The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-07-30


Daruma appeared little by little There his great
google eyes, Swallowed by beetng brows; the
mouth the large Hindustanee earrings: the scarlet
robe the high priests mace; the staff with long tuft
of hair at one end Last of ALL Uncle shigem stained
the background deep, brilliant blue.
When Taro followed Uncle Shigeni out to the open
ground on New Years Day. his heart bounded with
pride as the kite scared proudly and we'll into the
deep Due sky and the other children shouted at the
fm ] petre Of the great s9oh u
every description were darling, futering lowering
everywhere. Kites large small kites painted and
anpantea, olra KITES soaring on outstretched wings
of hideous ogres But high all scared the red
robed Daruma kite Of little Taro.
Suddenly, there great shouting.
everybody looking at his kite and dancing and down.
Then he noticed that the line kite
his that its owner was giving it see-saw notion that
his Uncle shigenni and
ing to untangle the lines then, OH would he
forget that dreadful moment-the line of his precious
kite parted and his beautiful Daruma began to pitch
toward the earth.
Some climbed fences some trees thinking they could
catch best there. The rest pushed and crowded and
yelled in solid mass where they thought it would
come down. Taro wanted to after them and
claim his kite but Uncle shigemi said that such kite
cutting and kte-catching was a game and when once
his line was cut he could not claim his kite again,
if he should catch it. 1t belonged to the
whose hand was nearest 70 the cut end of the string
Just Taro Uncle Shigen1i
Cling, dispung mass surrounding the kite of them
reached out and tore it into shreds
putes there be-"
it He Gid not believe that he could have
watched anybody else flying that beautiful Daruma,
the first kite he had made and that Uncle shgei had
painted WELL
Taxa did not fly kites on New Years. but she went
off with of her girl friends and played battledoor
and shuttecocl1. Many girls a baby
brother baby sister their backs Taxa
had to do this, not only because she had been too
young when Taro born but also because Father
Manyemon could afford nurse to carry him instead
Taxa also liked to play ball and often she had match
highest, They sang little rhyming of the num-
and each tried to bounce her ball hundred
times without missing.
Taro also played ball with the boys this village
recreation ground. Ana there was hoPseotch and
Theron Legs, too, as they called walking on stills
Sometimes they did not have real bought ball.
Then they would pick of the hard-rinded lemons
aida andu dai-dai
almost as we'll real ball. tho sometimes after a
good of hard use it would burst right in the mid
die of exciting game. They played pass and
~s the groundcrs s 5ha did the nzchfef But
lemon trees always at hand and when one BALI
went, they just picked another
Taro tired of the games with boys, Taxa was
always ready to- play the games with MIN that boys
kiotoro, or evil spirit for instance First they chose
a catcher evil spirit. Then they chose mother.
Behind the mother in the order of size came all the
thought that eight was exactly the
right number to play this game ..-
Every little Japanese boy and girl wears an obi,
or wide scarf round the waist. When they
played kotoro each took hold of the obi of the
spirit and the mother with all her children in a
string behind her. each other The game for
evil spirit to try to catch the test player at the
oft he mothers string
AS the evil spirit dashed toward them, trying to
pass the mothers outstretched arms, what lodging
and dashing there was. Wherever the mother went,
there her children had to follow, in continual
"cracl-the-vvhip.' irsto the other,
one end here doubling twisting; jerked
here and dragged there until they were GREATNESS and
their eyes almost ready to fall out.
ITO Be Continued)