The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1906-01-02

the tOkonoma, toeether with INV
mochi. W *afs,t' u ,Na
The FIRST thing one should do af-
ter the midnight is passed is to greet
the fellow members OF the family
with 20 Medetoir or Happy New
Year!" Then he eats the zoni as
matter OF ceremony.
The zoni is sort OF soup Of shoyu.
the Japanese sauce, with mochi boiled
In II and seasoned with potatoes
peculiar to the Oriental soil the roots
Of the vegetable that spreads Its
broad leaves like umbrellas or ladies'
hats-and with moyashi---the white.
threadlike stems grown out OF, beans
kept under straw bed In a garden.
o zoni! Sweet zonil who does
not love zonil IT'S deliciousness still
clings In my memory even now. when
I have not opportunity to taste IT
here, far away from my native land.
After the zoni Is eaten, the family
go to bed. They rise late in the fore
noon. The maids prepare for
feast. ceremonial feast, which Is to
be performed about 1 O'Clock In the
afternoons tlF 'ap-trs
-. Themenu consists of the sake, tho
. Japanese wine, which Is called for
the occasion 20 Toso34-and vegota-
bles cooked on the previous evening.
A very little or no meat is eaten.
A Shinto priest, who Is known for
the occasion as Banzai, performs an
ltinerant service In the houses OF his
parish. beginning with the daimio's
man.'ion and visiting every house and
hovel. one after another. He mutters
something in fropt of the tokonoma
according to the Shinto rites and
drinks the o Toso in saucer like
lacquer cup. into. which a maid pours
out of an o Suzy,l the silver bottle OF
D Toso. -
One cup of o Toso in each house
makes the Banzaiso saturated with
1t after he has gone around a num-
ber of houses that in the rest Of the
houses in the parish he Is rather dis
paraged and becomes an object Of
laughter OF all the children OF the
community, who follow after him
wherever he goes.
After the Ranzai has left the house
/. the family partakes of the feast and
drinks the o Toso.
After the feast one dresses up In
the dress suit, which inclu6 IS a black
noair an overcoat, with the family
emblem on the back. and hakama,
a sort of skirt for men, which men
wear over the regular suit of clothes.
Most of these clothes are silk.
He issues forth from his house and
goes to the daimios residence-the
feudal customs still survive and the
time honored daimo invites every
resident OF his former daimiate to
have a cup OF wine. or OF toso, In his
mansion. One goes to pay respect to
the daimio, not often personally, but
for the drinking OF the cup OF o
Toso.
After that he goes around to greet
his personal friends with 10 fnede-
tot" II his friend is a mere acquaint-
ance. he only leaves his card In
card receiver. which is placed in
front OF the entrance OF every house.
After the greetings are over the
col anu Biliot CNcH tHb yOuuS
men and the young women congre-
gate In the street and institute an
outdoor game OF mukuro uchi. The
mukuro uchi IL game In which any
number of persons that the place
will hold may partake. '
A butterfly like mukuro, with
three feathers OF a small bird tied
together at the top end OF stick. one
inch long, and a kernel OF fruit at
the bottom end. which serves as
weight. is thrown high In the air.
1T flutters like bird, revolving
swiftly like top. The feathers hold
the mukuro in the air for short
time Slowly 1t falls. 4@p
Each of the participants in the
game holds In his hand a hagoita, a
small piece Of fiat board In the shape
of mandarin. One who is assigned
to keep the mukuro in the air
strikes against It with the side of tho
hagoita with a determined bang.
Up 1t flies again until 1t is another
PERSONS turn to keep 1t flying In the
air. Any person who fails to keep the
mukuro In the air and allows It to
fall on the ground is punishable with
degree OF corporal torture. such as
beating him or her for that matter,
on the back with the hagoita. Some
rufians beat so severely that a man
often gets a sore back in the even
Ing.
AT night the young people gather
In house and play cards. the Jap
anese cards. called hyaku min isshu,
The hyaku min isshu consists OF
hundred cards. on which the second
two lines OF hundred OF select
classical four line poems. mostly love
poems. are written A person is cho-
sen from among the party to read tho
first two lines Of the poems.
Before he begins to read the cards
are spread on the matted floor, and
around the spread the party makes