The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-02-07
Quill CUSIOMS OF JAPAN.
Life in the Land of the Rising
Sun.
lLondon ENpress.l

Life IN the Land of the Rising
Sun.
(London Express.)
There is no real country called ia
pan. There are islands in the Yellow
sea called Ninun or Nippon. and some
times, but not for brevltyts sake. The
Luxuriant- Reed Plains the land Of
t'resh-fiice- Ears of-long- fiFe-hundred-
aHsumns
When Marco PeIo Travelled in china
M the fourteenth century the Chinese
told him of land yet further east. q
| land whence the rising sun came from
they called IT, not knowing its riEEz
| Hame. Jfn-Pen, the sun birthplace"
Marco Polo rounded the name into
I Iinpangu. and from this mispr0nunci-
alton II Ianciful Chinese phrGses used
10 cloak the real ignorance Of the
speaker comes the word Japan,
This interesting fact is taken from
Douglas Sladen's new book, Queer
Things About Japan" IL is an Uncon-
yenIional volume, in which "a great deal
Of general information is pleasantly
gathered together.
We read that japan. excluding For
nosa, has a population Of 4o,0O0, GEO.
/ They are divided into different classes
of nobility and "heimin" or the common
people, who form the great bulk OF the
nation. In 1854 the old nobility was dis
tributed into Eve ranks; Princes. mar
/ qulses, counts, viscOunts and barons.
The japanese love air; unless il is
/ too cold or too wet the poor Jap takes
down the whole front Of his house I'm
| the daytime. If it is tco sunny hs
hangs a big blue or brown curtain in
| front OF it.
Babies Never Cry.
"The japanese baby never cries. The
! japanese do not know how 10 kiss Tho
! Japanese have no pens and no inks.
I but they make a very good shift with
/ q paint brush. Their writing is 80 love
! " that a poet is judged by his hand
/ writing and not by his compositions.
The japanese have 10 do without
many things without which civilized
{ existence would seem impossible unless
7 you had seen it with your own eyes.
/ They have no bread. TO beds. no FIRE,
/ no boots and shoes
/ 'In their houses they have no win
/ d0Ws, no doors. no walls. 10 ceilings,
no chests Of drawers, not even e wash
ing stand, and the wardrobe Is only
/ lot Of boxes piled one on top of an
| other.
This wonderful power of doing with
| out is an essential source Of military
/ strength. 1t enables Japanese armies TO
march pretern9turally light, and in 20
case OF blockade or national disaster 10
would be almost impossible 20 starve
him into surrender. The japanese is
rich because. as witty Frenchmsn OBJ
served, 1t is our wants that make Us
poor -
We allow Mr.. Sladen to tell his story
in his own words. They give US an ex-
cellent idea Of that most fascinating
Oriental nation, which, with strong
leanings 10 western ideas, stil Cliugs
closely to its old traditions. The pro-
- To- 7rr
regard to the whole population is very
small, bat their influence is great, for
they are all, practically speaking, meni-
bers Of the ruling class.
The position of women in Japan Is a
low one. The first duty Of woman says
! q japanese prOverb, is obedience, and
/ the japanese talk of the three Obedien-
Ces for a woman. She has 60 obey her
father until she is married, her husband
/ while she is married. and her sons Il
| she is left a widow with children.
Reasons For Divorce.
Besides the ordinary reasons for di-
/ vorce other legal causes arc Jealousy
disturbing the harmony Of kinsmen, or
| bringing trouble on her household By
! talking overmuCh and prattling dis
| respectfully.
Domestic sevice in Japan is cOnsid-
cred an honor. 1t is. however, the chill
dren who have the happiest time.
The middle Of the streets is mostly
! devoted TO children: little ones playing
/ at skipping rope with babies on their
/ backs; little boys playing battledoTe
and shuttIecOck past your nose and
peg-tOps past your toes.
/ "The Japanese are born grOwn-Up,
and remain children all their lives.
Their two great festivals are the Girls
| Feast and the Boys Feast.
T. p
/ Flags, all houses which contain sons
:. have huge gaily-cOlored paper carp
! floating from tail hagposts. If son
has been born during the year the carp
| are extra large. The wind fills the
I body Of the fish and makes Il wrigsle
It's tail fins IN the most natural fash
l ion. The FISH IS carp. which IS chc-
sen because it is able 10 swim swiftly
against a current and leap over water
[ fails: It is considered in Japan as typi-
/ cal OF q young man surrounding all
difficulties to success and prosperity
The GiTls' Feast, or the Feast OF
/ Dolls, is celebrated By all the little
girls preparing feasts for their dolls.
/ They are real feaSts. Dolls are heir
looms in japanese families There are
/ homes which have dolls dressed up a.
every important parsonage in Japan
csc history, with proper furnishings
for them 10 80 through every domestic
and cereInoniOus detail. These are
passed on from generation to genera
ton.
Quaint English.
( Amusing consequences have followed
the study Of English by the japanese
Mr.. SIaden gives several instances Of
Quaint mistakes. Here is an English
advertisement as put forth by Japan
ese dentist.
NOTES: Our tooth is "a very inn
portant organ for human life and coun-
/ tenance as you know; therefore when
it is attack by disease OF Injury. ar
tihcial tooth is also very useful am
/ engage to the Dentistry and / VIII
make your purpose
The only time, Te read, that the Jap
/ snese use pidgin-Enslish is when they
are talking 10 Chinese. There is moth
ing funnier thsn To hear the inhabi-
tants OF the two great oriental empires
I cOnversing in q patoiS of little island
the width Of a world away.
! Japanese TRANSACTIONS and lliuSlTa-
tons OF European history are distinctly
entertaining. IN q japanese life OK
/ Napoleon one picture represents the al
tack on Moscow. Moscow IS Il pledie-
val city: both sides wear armOr. on
/ the left Of the picture are the high
seas. with the French feet on them;
and on the right the Russian general
having Moscow set on IRE. In order
that he may be more easily seen, The
general is represented outside "a
. walls"
The one thing in which japanese