The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-09-12
MANAGES IN JAPAN.s
THE HAIRY Amos AND THEIR REsER.
7 NATIONS IN THE EMPIRE.

Their Remembrance to Our Indians.
The Anus. generally known to Amer.
leans and Europeans as 1.-THE hairy
Alnos," are the only aboriginal people
now living In Japan. They are called
"hairy" in contradistinction to the
smooth faced japanese, Koreans and
Chinese. Their present home Is in Hok.
kaido, or Yesso, the most northerly part
Of tho empire, although 1t Is supposed
that in earlier times they occupied
most Of the entire country. Ancestors
Of the Japanese of today found them III
possession and by force of superior
arms and civilization gradually drove
them to the north, much In the same
way as the savages were driven back
toward the Pacific by the early settlers
in America.
The Anus live today pretty much as
the Indians on their reservations in the
west. They are still for the most part
half savage, and the japanese name
for them, "Yesso," means barbarian.
They are very skillful in hunting and
fishing, which are their chief occupa-
tons. They are under the protection
of the imperial government and are
entirely separated from the Japanese.
The latest census showed that they
number very nearly 1000.
Among the many curious customs of
! the Anus perhaps the quaintcst Is their
method of naming their children. They
observe a peculiar economy in giving
names. The infant must go without
name until it shows Itself worthy of
| bearing one. If it is sickly and not
likely to live, 1t is not considered worth
| while to waste a name upon 1t. AS
| each child must by immclnorial custom
have a brand new name, used by no
one in the community, names are scarce
and must he guarded. If the child
should be given name borne by some
one else, the ghost of the former pos
SCISSOR of the name may come back
| from the underworld to ayenge tho
slight.
II is customary to take a name from
some incident that occurred at the
chill's birth or ii is left to the parents
af,erward to choose one for it. Should
the infant come into the world with a
smiling face 1t might be called lkishi-
lnbnru, which means smile, or fond
parents may call it Kamoissase "a
pulling rope of the gods, if they wish
| their child to be in the special care of
the gods
From the ag2 of I to 10 Ainu children
Of either sex have their heads shaved
but after II they are allowed to have
long hair and wear the same clothes
as grown persons. They wear no cloth
ing unless the weather is very cold.
The favorite and almost exclusive or
namcnt is the earring, usually made of
metal. What clothing is worn is made
Of straw. They never Wear shoes or
other covering for the feet except as a
great luxury and mark of distinction
on ceremonious occasions.
The men carry small knives and TO-
bacco pouches, and the women carry
small looking glasses aud knives. The
knife Is used As symbolic. The maiden
wears it with the blade bare, hut when
she Iuarrics it is worn in a sheath The
women also paint their faces, using Il
Kind OF ink for the purpose.
The Anus live mostly by fishing anu
hunting. They hunt the bear and deer,
catch salmon and other fish and grow
potatoes and millct. Whenever they
can get it they eat rice, which they re-
gard as the best food, though they do
not raise 1t themselves Both sexes
smoke tobacco and drink liquor.
The marriage customs differ widely
from those of the Japanese. The qurs-
| ton Is first settled between the youth
and maiden, who then refer the matter
TO their parents through mediator,
who should be a relative of the pro.
sprctiyo bridegroom Tho man must
send a present of lacGuercd ware,
which Is regarded by them rs one Of
the most precious things in the world.
This, however, is reclaimed by him if
his wife aftcrward seeks divorce
Anus live in dwellings of about the
same class as those of the American
Indians. The rude hut has two win
dows, one Of them for ordinary earthly
| uses, the other reserved FOR the Ell
trance Of the gods.
Woman Is fairly treated and held in
deep respect. The man Is not allowed
| TO enter the house when the woman is
in it alone and he is not permitted to
| walk behind u wonlun v hen man
meets woman, lie must salute first,
by smoothing his beard and rubbing
his hands. Then she responds by
touching her nose with a finger of her
| lett hand. y.
| During October the Anus hold re-
ligOus frtr which is called the bear
festival, because they sacrifice bear
| which has been carefully fostcred for
! three years.
Judicial punishment among the Anus
consists of a severe beating with n
stick administered to the cHlprt. The
crimes arc generally theft stealing ar
ticlcs or the wife of ncighhor. As
there are eight men to one woman the
majority Of the males are not married,
and wife stealing is very common. The
accused is subjected to Il long eXnmlnu-
ton by the chief Of the community and
Is then compelled to resort to the ordeal
| OF fire. He must take Il stone out Of
| boiling water. II innocent the Anus
think he will not be injured. If the
question cannot be settled In this way,
, the principals in the dispute must fight
I it out.
The Anus are polythcists, though
they limit their gods TO two, a god Of
! fire and Il god of water The first is