Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-24
THE JAPANESE BABY
Most Interesting Institution
in Japan.
BOYS ARE PREFERRED
THEIR BIRTH AN OCCASION FOB
GREAT GENERALIZATION.
Customs Followed by the People-A
Healthy Race-Large Families
Marriage is Encouraged.
BOYS ARE PREFERRED
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
TOKYO, July %. 1904.
The japanese baby has been the theme
of many writer's. Every traveller who visits
this country will tell you that it is the most
interesting institution in the empire. and
in many respects absolutely unique. No
where are there so many babies in evidence
as in Japan. The birth rate in India, Hun
gary and some other countries is quite as
high as 1t Is here, but the children are kept
within the houses. In Japan the street is
their nursery and playground. and they
swarm like bees around their hives. One
sees the children to the best advantage at
the schools and kindergartens. which are
found In every village, for nowhere Is edu-
cation so general as in Japan. There are
al ,S51 schools, an increase from SO, sos in
1896 OF these 1O1 24S are for boys and
40,608 for girls; SS.O51 are primary schools
and they are regularly attended by 4.981.-
s6S children-2S37,529 boys and 2.144339
girls. 1 do not have the figures Of other
countries with me- but doubt whether any
state in Europe America has a larger at
tendance in proportion to population at its
public schools than In Japan. Nowhere Is
education more popular or universal.
The Japanese baby is the father OF the
man, and the most dignified and decorous
person in existence. He never cries. he
never does an ill-mannered act, and is sell
dom afraid or abashed before strangers.
There is, however, a great distinction be-
tween girls and boys In Japan. quite as
much as in any other oriental country: the
birth Of boy is an occasion for rejoicing,
not only in the family to which 1t pertains,
but in the entire neighborhood, while the
father of a new girl receives condolences
instead of congratulations. the Japanese
are famous for devotion to their children'
H.. a
in his arms He is pretty sure to be fond
ling one of his boys whenever he IS at
home, but unless he Is unusually aHec-
tionate he ignores his daughters almost en-
tirely. When son is born large paper fish
are hung upon poles around the house as a
sign of the blessing that has been con.
ferred upon that family, and on the otn OF
May, which IS the boys festival, you can
see them floating from every flag pole Ihey
are made of tissue paper In the form OF
carp so that the air initiates them IKE
balloon The idea is that, as the carp sWlms
up the river against the curreni 81 n Ii nvars
come all obstacles to fame ana fortune:
The I'd of March is the girls festival, but
it is not so generally celebrated
Some japanese Customs.
It is a Japanese custom to shave the
heed of an infant on the seventh DAY alter
it's birth, only tiny tuft of hair on the
nape of the neck being left. and during the
next five or six years. and often until
boy Is ten years old, the head is shaved at
frequent intervals, which Is the cause OF
the coarseness and stiffness of the hair OF
the Japanese men. There Is no religious
significance, about this, as many believe
but it is supposed to give the child health
and strength. The first hair is always pre-
served with great care.
When a baby is a month old 1t Is taken
to the favorte Shinto temple OF the parents;
where it formally receives Its name ana
is registered by the priest, an act equlva-
lent to the baptism among US. The parents
leave an Offering. as much as they can ar
ford to pay for the ceremony and for the
PRAYERS that are offered to propitiate the
gods in favor of the little one. Then they
go from house to house among their friends
exhibiting the baby and are entertained
with cakes, sweetmeats and tea. Inc bapy
receives presents Of paper dogs which are
emblems of good health. Healthy as a
dog is a Japanese proverb. Friends are
invited to the house of their parents on
the evening of the same day ana are en-
tertained in simple way.
The next day baby is strapped to the
back of an elder brot-.er or sister. strip
of cotton cloth being passed under Its arms
and around its knees, and its life for the
next two or three years Is spent in that
position. If he has no older brother or
sister he is strapped to the PACK OF MS
mother and is carried about with his head
rolling helplessly twelve or fourteen hours
a day, indoors, on the street. in the fields.
at the washtub and everywhere else the
mother happens to be engaged: You WIN
see women working in the fields, hauling
loaded carts. mending the roads and doing
other arduous labor with babies strapped
upon their backs. Rain, wind, sunshine are
all alike. Indeed, among the common peo-
pie you seldom see grown woman without
a baby When she takes 1t Off she deposits
the youngster in a bamboo basket or tea
box. gives him some simple plaything and
he amuses himself. He can exercise his
arms by pulling at the sldes OF the oox
can assist in the development of his dental
apparatus by chewing the edge or the
boards. but he never seems to be tired or
dissatisfied and you seldom hear him cry.
He will lie down on the floor or the pave
ment and go to sleep like a cat or dog.
He needs no cradle or pillow. japanese
babies are never rocked or sung 10 sleep:
He usually takes his dinner in public.
The most common sight in Japan is
woman nursing a baby by the roadside.
Rate of Births and Deaths.
AS 1 have intimated, the birth rate in
Japan is very large, and notwithstanding
the way in which infants are left to them
selves the mortality is much less here than
in other countries. This Is accounted for
by the fact that they out in the open
air most of the time. In the United States
80 per cent of children born never reach
the age of five years. In Japan the death
rate among children under five years of
age is usually no greater than among older
people. Last year. for example. out OF
91O744 deaths, 22O,211 were under one year
of age and 159 ,OS6 were over seventy; 500
were between one and two years old and
43 428 between sixty and seventy; %. 494
were between two and three years Of age.
20 557 between fifteen and twenty and 81, 93S
between forty-five and fifty. The deaths
of children between three and four years Of
age numbered only 10 GAG, while those be-
tween four and five years of age were only
IL 716, the lowest of any period of life.
The following table gives the birth rate
and the death rate per 1000 population dur
ing eleven years: re
Birth Death Birth Death