Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-03-03
From Birth Babies Are Net Al.
lowed Chairs, But Sit
on Floor.
MORE o CHILDHOOD
Have Peculiar Customs in Regard 20
Dressing. Carrying and Naming
the ~child-Marry Young and
Are Very Affectionate.

given by q NUMBER OF Japanese army SUR
geons and scientific men. Under their d.
Of soldiers were taken. and It
found in almost every case that the
shortness OF stature Is chiefly due to the
shortness Of the lower limbs.
The legs are short and stunted because
almost from the day 1t is born the Jap
ansese baby is taught to sit on the floor, /
Its legs doubled under 1t at the
dwarfing of the legs. and is the main
cause of the national deformity.
Among the Japanese coolies. who spend
most of their time In standing up. work.
or running in the open air. the legs
are noticeably longer than in the more
classes.
1t is believed that the general use Of
tables n chairs in the empire of the
milsado would eventually result in adding
several inches to the average height Of
Japanese soldiers, which is, at present
five feet and four inches.
The babies of all except the richest jap
anese are carried about on the back OF
an elder sister or brother from the time
they are a few months old. The poorer
the parents the sooner the baby is fas-
tened on to the back of some elder men,
Der of the family. and 1t is not uncom-
mon in the poorer quarters Of a Japanese
:ity TO see a group of children 6 or s
Years old play%g in the streets, each OF
whom bears a tiny baby sister or brother
fastened with a few straps to it's back.
These straps are just sufficient to pre-
vent the baby from falling to the ground,
leaving the comfort of its posture entirely
dependent on its w eXertions. AS a re-
suit the Japanese baby early gains a sur
prising control of its muscles, and 1t is
almost impossible to drop even a tiny
child from your arms. SO firmly does IT
cling on with both arms and legs.
The dressing OF a Japanese baby 4. a
simple matter. 1t wears nothing but min
lature kimonos. the number varying with
the condition of the weather. These gar
me!ts are fitted one inside the other be-
fore they are put on. Then they are laid
Town on the floor and baby is laid into
them. They are long enough to cover the
baby's feet and the sleeves are also long
enough to cover the hands. Practically
there is only one garment, and the pro-
cess of dressing a Japanese baby take
but two or three minutes Of it's mothers
time.
White is the color of mourning in japan
and is therefore never used In the dress Of
babies. Red and yellow are the favorite
colors for tho dress of tiny hahias. hut
after the first month or two it il easy to
distinguish the sex OF a baby by the color
Of its clothes. Little girls are still dressed
In the most gorgeous of colors and the
largest of patterns. while boys are early
shifted into more sober grays and greens
and blues and browns.
The Japanese are never demonstrative
In their expressions of affection. kissing
Is unknown, and is looked upon as q dis
gushing way Of showing love.
The great festival OF the year In Japan
is the Feast of Dolls, celebrated on the
third Gay OF the third month. In every
Japanese family of any consequence there
la n Aronrnnf nyor,1t mr. nv H4,,- $500
cially built to hold the dolls. which are
handed down from generation to genera
ton. All the year until the first day of
the feast the precious dolls are kept safe
ly locked up in this vault. Sometimes
there are hundreds Of them in the pos
session of one of the great families. On
the first day OF the feast the vault is
opened and all the dolls are taken out.
They are carried into the finest room Of
the house, where a number of red COW
cred shelves nav been built to receive
them. Always first among these historic
dolls are effigies OF the emperor and en-
press. and next to them in Importance
came small reproductions of the court
musicians. all complete to the smallest de-
tails. Then there will also be miniatures
of other less great but more familiar per-
sonages, and for every one there Is q COM
plete set of doll furnishings. In the bou-
doir of one Of the doll women, for in
stance will be found tiny combs. mirrors
and all the apparatus for blackening the
eyebrows, reddening the lips and per-
forming all the other mysteries Of the
toilet. There are also complete sets OF
cooking and dining utensils, and the little
girls of a Japanese family, during the
three days Of the Feast of Dolls, are kept
busy seeing that all the puppets are sup
piled with real food, proper to their rank
and station In life.
A thu C1nnn NJ thu, tIer1 In, ~ th~
dolls and their belongings are packed
away in their fireproof store house, not te
be disturbed again until the next year
The Feast OF Dolls takes the place OF
Christmas to the children of Japan.
Japanese babies are rarely given tn
name Of a living member of the family o.
friend. The reason is the inconvenience,
of similar names In the same family, mid
die names. as a means Of avoiding thil
difficulty. being unknown. Little girls ar,
commonly called after beautiful objects
In nature such as Plum Blossom, Snow
Sunshine. Gold. or Lotos Flower, Littl
boys, especially among the lower classes
frequently start out In life with tn
handicap OF being named Tiger, Bear
Rock or Panther. 1t is not considered al
especial compliment in Japan to call
child after any other person.
To such an extent is the art Of lowe
arrangement carried in Japan that Their
are even several different and rival
schools, each founded by some eminen
professor. In the typical Japanese roor
the single vase Of DIVERS inc the han
scroll are the only ornaments.
by the time she is 16 the Japanese gil
is supposed to marry. All her life she ha
been taught that man is a superior crea
ture; that. For him, she must b willin
to do literally anything. and that In HI
presence. under all circumstances, sh
must wear q smiling face and . cheerf,
habit of absolute obedience. Too ofte
the flower like maiden IL q wife 1t 16.
mother at IS. and q faded old woman
30. But no Japanese woman makes an
attempt to conceal her age. In fact. thoi
who know TOY can tell from q woman
dress and from her coiffure almost c!
actly how old she 10. The colors of
woman's dress grow less brilliant fro
year to year. until at % the girl that vi
. gorgeous read and yellow butterfly
Is has become q gray or brown moth.
. japanese married woman wears her ha
in a wide pun on the top OF her hea
With every year Of her life the pun d
minishes in width. until at GO or 20
measures but q couple Of inches. II
number variety and q'za Of armament