Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-31

II cleanliness is next to goodness, as the
Anglo-Saxou is prone to believe, then the
hairy Ainu of Yezo the northernmost Japa-
nose island are irredeemably damned by
their own filthiness.
Without doubt. they are the dirtiest col
lection OF human beings to be found in any
OF the worlds out-of-the-way corners.
The men never wash their hands and face
except when they are called on to attend a
funeral As for bathing their bodies, their
religion does not make II obligatory on
them to engage in such work, even IN re-
spect OF the dead, and so the word bathtub
IS not known among them.
The women are equally averse to indulg-
ing in ablutions of any sort. Their par
TALLY for personal dirt extends TO every
thing connected with their homes.
Why should we wash the Dishes runs
the Anu housekeeper's argument. They'll
soon have food put in them again, and
everything that is put in them is just food,
and all food is good for one. Is not this
true?"
What chance IS there for the missionary
10 make any advance in the face Of such
ingenious argument? And what is The re-
suit when an Aiuu woman is persuaded to
use water freely? She does such astonish-
ing things as that Of bathing her baby In
her largest stewlus pan.
Cleaning up" is an unknown institution
In Ainu land and what with personal I'M
cleanliness. both houses and people are
"maIodorous." TO say the least. and. 10
quote Missionary John Batcherlor, who has
labored among the Anus since 1915. and
knows more Of their ways than any other
foreigner
The only tlme that an Ainu man seems to
have horror OF anything unclean is when
ne chances TO GeL a woman angry at him.
Then he is IN constant fear and trembling
that. in order 10 get even with him" she
VIII serve him with pu;rid food Al dinner.
According to- Missionary Bachelor, the
Ainu woman. for all she is the abject slave
OF her husband. has a hair-tr gger temper
and, once she is crossed. her curs,ng us
simply wonderful" The grimaces she
makes at that man who had been so I'M
fortunate as 10 incur her disfavor are equal
~ wonderful. and the poor man is in con-
slant dread that he will see her leering
features peering at him from behind every
house corner and tree. She has long
string OF favorite epthets. but the one
which she uses to crush her enemy after
she has made life miserable for him for
good half day or so Is "a corpse"
Many a poor devil when so addressed in
the presence of his fellows has wandered
away from the village. TO be found a few
days later a corpse in reality To be called
corpse by woman is about the greatest
disgrace that can fall to the lot of an Ainu
man.
Only when she is angry does the Ainu
woman gain prominence In the eyes of her
lord. At all other times she is beneath his
notice, his slave simply, and At only for a
slaves work
She is given no part in the Anu religion
other than that Of cook for the feasts at
tendant on various ceremonies. Prayer Is
not for her; II is the rarest thing TO hear
OF an Ainu woman praying.
She performs practically all the manual
labor that Is carried on among the Anu.
The men either remove themselves as far
away from work as possible, or. failing in
that. peacefully lie down and sleep by it.
Hunting. fishing. worshiping are the only
pursuits creditable to man, and, as q re-
suit the poor woman crawls out OF her
little matched house in the early morning
hours to cultivate her scanty garden, pound
the nilIet. collect and cut winter wood.