The Colfax chronicle., 1904-04-30
WAKE WARRIORS OF SONS,
Mothers of Japan Keep Alive the Firea
of Chivalry in the Bosoms
of Their Sons.

The war spirit in japan is not, as one
might suppose, virtue handed down
from sire to son. with severe teaching.
1t is from the gentle, submissive mother
who from his cradle reverences her
son as her lord-that the pugnacity of
the islanders is derived.
So Jules Bois, who has dwelt long In
that country, writes in an article just
published here, says Paris special to
the Chicago Inter Ocean.
He describes the women of Japan as
far from the fragile, the doll-like crea-
lures pictured by Pierre Lott. There is
stern stuff in their makeup.
In every household the mother makes
a cult of the historic worthless and heroes
of the race.
She goes through daily ceremony in
| the presence of her children, from which
they learn the names and deeds of the
great in their country's chivalry. She
extols the glories of war, and impresses
upon them the shame that 1t would be
to live if the slayers Of their father
lived.
The wife has great authority in the
household, and all her seeming subjec-
| ton is largely matter of manners
She shares the councils of her husband,
and influences his career to greater ex-
tent than do the wives of the western
land.
The empress of Japan is the best OF
illustrators of this. Haruko (poetically
named the Empress Spring') is q
daughter of the noble house of Ichigo,
one of the fine families Of great Kuge, or
court personages, from which mikado
may choose his consort. Until her eigh-
| teenth year, when she was chosen by
her sovereign, she was brought up in
the strictest seclusion in the old cap
ital, Kioto and received the customary
education. of a daughter of a princely
| Daimio.
Great pains were taken to teach her
| literature. to develop her artistic taste.
and to school her In the writing OF
graceful If inane verse.
She is 81 years old, year older than
her husband. Having no children of her
| own, she is content to see the son of a
megaki, or concubine, reared as the heir
| to the throne, and to recognize him as her
future lord If she survives her hus-
band.
Monogamy is now the rule in Japan,
and the next mikado will probably be
the last of left-handed birth to reign.
The present emperor is likewise a me-
gaki's son.
Empress Spring" has been truly a
helpmeet and an inspiration to her hus-
band.
She caused the first Japanese girls to
be sent to America, in 1871, to acquire
the western learning. She suggested
the founding of the National normal
school, and patronized the establishment
of the Japanese Red Cross society. She
gives money, time and care to charitable
works, visibly the hospitals, especially
that for women and children, in Toxic,
where she distributes toys and lux
uries.
She.has no companion in the seclusion
of her own apartments in the palace of
Takugawa. Here she wears the nation
al costume, in warm-colored silks. Her
apartments are simple, in the style of
old Japan, with beautiful lacquered fur
niture. The floor is covered with spot
less white mating. on which she sits
or squats. Her rooms open into those
of the emperor.
The state apartments are furnished in
European style. The palace, built in
1889, is in the old native style of archi-
lecture, but is equipped with the mod
ern improvements" familiar to the west
water, electric lights and heating ap-
paratus.
The ladies of the court live in a sepa-
rate building. from which a covered
gallery leads to the gallery. Japanese
etiquette Is so complicated that these
ladies spend seven years apprenticeship
to learn their duties. Each has her own
apartment and even her own cook.
The woman of fpresent-day Japan lives
under far more liberal laws than her
mother did. Phere is now law for d.
vorce by mutual consent Women lee
turers are not unknown. Children of
both sexes are educated together in the
primary schools. thing that horrifies
conservative grandmothers. There are
women lawyers in Toxic, and, although
their entrance into the medical profess
sion is frowned upon. that prejudice will
give way in time.
Not only have many Japanese wom-
en- adopted the European costume, but
some even wear trousers.