Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-05
DOLL DAY IN JAPAN
MOTHER INSTINCT IN THE LIT
TIE WOMAN OF THE ISLANDS.
A Period Set Apart When She May
Play With Her Toy
Children.


From the Housekeeper.
1t is not at all surprising that in any orr
entail country a day should be set aside in
which to do honor to the boy, for he is the
great factor in national and home life. The
father looks to him in his cid age to per-
petuate the family line and the mother
regards him her defense warding off all
harm and making glad her declining years
When the boy enters the home, great is the
rejoicing: the girl makes way for him and
gladly yields all rights to the tyranny of his
absolute sway. All of this is expected; but
how or when it was decreed that the nation
should call halt in the midst of it's usual
occupations and all hands enter upon day
of pleasure in honor of the girl. nobody has
ever been able to find out.
The Japanese are an amusement loving.
pleasure-seeking people. and 1t IS possible
that they may have been glad to seize upon
any excuse to cast aside duty and step Off
the treadmill of the daily grind in favor Of
the coveted day of recreation. Be this as 1t
may. one Of the long-established usages Is
to set aside day in which the pleasure
and interests of the girl are matters OF chlet
consideration. Whole families make 1t their
business for some days previous to the ceie-
bration to prepare for the OCCASION and
crowd as much good will into the season as
possible.
The Mother Instinct.
expression in a natural love for doll. This
is not confined to race, condition or cline;
it is universal The child of the savage.
whose parents do not know how to prepare
food, has enough mother instinct to fash
ion rude stick into the similitude of a doll.
and delights in ANONYMOUSLY developing
system of government for future offspring.
No power could suppress it. The love for
a doll is the forerunner of mother-loVe
In,
dolls and toys her own possessions to APP
propriate at any and all times. This is not
so with the Japanese girl. To play with
her dolls is event; a JOY which comes to
her but once year. And the dolls are so
wonderfully made as truly to be curios1tieS.
even to the people themselves. AS rule
the doll is the personifcation OF some noted
character of remote ages; either an empress
or some woman who has figured in national
history. The quaint, often costly, dress the
arrangements of the hair and kind of Jew
els. are all in harmony with the period In
which she is supposed to have lived They
are of all sizes and shapes. and the girl
with the largest collection and the oldest
doll is the envy OF all
The Chief Play Day.
On a certain day one room in the Jap
anese home is so arranged that all dolls
and toys may be displayed to advantage;
the most highly priced ones are given the
place of honor the row of shelves placed
against the side of the room. and drapnd
with some gay color that forms a fitting
background. In the illustration accom-
panying this article the dolls occupying,
the highest shelf are very rare and OF great
value. This display was among the finest
of the many l visited during the holiday
These four have been handed down for
seven hundred years. and represent Ia
nous and greatly beloved woman VINO once
reigned over the empire.
Every girl remains a home on this great
holiday and receives the mothers OF her
girl friends, who are expected TO make the
rounds of the neighborhood in which she
lives. Among the better class 1t Is the GUS
tom to add doll to the collection as an
expression of good will The little girl has
a cooking arrangement over which to pre-
pare tea for her guests. This is served on
the floor with some sort of sweets. and not
to partake is considered very bad form
The next day the treasures are removed
and packed away, the girl longing for the
day when she shall again enjoy her ever
increasing family. 1t is common thing TO
sec as many as hundred more dolls IN
one home. and the story OF their acquisition
is of interest alike to child and visitor.
The line of caste is as closely drawn
among children as adults. When the KIN
dergarten idea was introduced BY MISSION
aries it was almost impossible to secure the
attendance of the children from the better
class of families, and, even now. special
schools are established and maintained at
the expense of the government for the emil
dren of parents who claim superiority by
right of birth. The necessity of qualifying
girls in the common walks of life to care
Tor themselves has dawned upon even the
higher class people. and numbers of
wealthy women have interested themselves
III establishing institutions where girls may
be taught useful arts whereby they may
become self-Supporting.