The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-11

between the bride and her father and mother-n-Iaw. Then the bride changes her garment to a colored one, which she has brought along from her parents house, and ap- pears before the guests, who 1flerrily drink in honor of the newly welded couple It is not seldom among rich people that bride changes her gar ment as often as four or five times. Three days after the wedding the couple pay a visit to the brides home, when she puts on a garment given by her husband, and the new life is be- gun.
 CHILDREN AND THEIR FEsT1- VALS.
 i There is stiii afl inclination among this people to give a heartier welcome to their little sons than to their daugh- ters, though the latter never fall be- hind the former in receiving the fond care and tender affection of their pa rents. The arrival of a little boy as the first baby brings great joy and satis- faction to the family, due to the fact that the Japanese regard the long con- tinuance of the same family line as of great importance. They name their children within a week after their birth. When boys are thirty-one and girls thirty-three days old they are | taken to the main temple to be r1edi- 1 cated to their patron gods. Children from their infancy are well trained in their manners and their pretty ways are worthy of attention, They have their festivales every year. The girls come around on the third day of March, when the stores are decked with thousands of pretty dolls and miniature furniture from a tiny bureau 1 to a wash tub. Girls of well-to-do 1 families have a whole set of these and have them arranged most .artistically on the self made especially for the purpose. Indeed there can be nothing more picturesque than to see the little girls sitting before the dolls and par take of the food and drink prepared for the occasion. The fifth of May is. the boys day, when gigantic paper .carps, fastened to a pole are made to float in the air. This is to signify that carp swims against the stream, so the boy, stout and brave, may make his way against many obstacles.
 BON FESTIVAL. One of the most superstitious great Buddhist festivals is celebrated from the 18th to the 18th of July, when all the spirits of the dead ancestors are said to visit their respective homes. Fire is usually burned at the front of the house before the arrival and de- parture of the spirits, special kinds of food are prepared and offered, and the family refrain from eating during those days. Latter in the evening of the last day of the festival people take the things offered on the altar to a river in straw meats of different sizes decorated with lanterns. As the night passes on the number of boats increasing, strange but beautiful sight is present. ed.
 FUNERALS.
 Both Shintoists and Buddhists have their own way of burying their dead. The former carry branches of a tree and flags The oblong coffin follows borne. Dy bearers clolneC III Whlle, ana the priests whose unshaven heads are covered with strange looking hats, come after.
 The Buddhist funeral can be disain- guished by it's square coffin, although the other kind is coming into more fre- quent use, and by the shaven heads of the priests dressed gorgeously. Large bouquets of flowers both real and arti- ficial, and sometimes one or two large cages containing hundreds of sparrows or 8 pair of doves are taken and after reaching the grave are let loose to fly away. The services are elaborate and imposing in both religions.
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