The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-02-09
lege for such education being Welles

Where the P~eeresses Are Educated.
= nave recently visited many OF
these schools. and within the past
week 1 have gone through the great
school established by the Empress for
the Of the peers ald prin-
ces OF Japan. This was opened fifteen
a ago, and it now has six hun
dred pupils. The school is under the
direct supervision of the imperial
household and is not in any way con
nected with the educational depart-
ment which manages the other
chools 1t is remarkable in that it is
made up largely Of the daughters OF
the highest classes. and in that it in
Guides several prbncesses belonging to
branches Of the royal family. It's
girls may be said to belong to the top
most layer of h upper crust of the
rene de la creme OF Japan.
| would like to take some Of the
american girls. who are reading this
letter. on a visit to these peeresses at
school. We shall take oud jinrikishas
and, pulled by our human steeds. in
thelr scanty trousers and buteerbowl
hats, go through the streets Of Tokio
a.1d climb the hill on which the school
stands. 1t is back Of the foreign Of
nee and not far from the palace.
There are beautiful gardens about it,
and its great buildings of brick and
stone are surrounded by quaint pines,
trained in Japanese fashion; by brown
leafed naples, and the ferns, flowers
and other Conceits Of these artistic
landscape gardeners. There is no
cam hut there are :arge yards
for exercising and there is a great
gymnasium where a hundred or SO Of
the girls go through all the evolutions
Of modern athletics. We are met at
the door by one of the professors. for
we have a letter Of introduction from
h foreign office. and this exclusive
school is thrown open to US. The pro-
lessor speaks English and he explains
aS We go.
We first visit some of the class
rooms. As VIC so through the halls
we meet many students. They are of
ali ages, from tots iii the kindergarten
to yodng lady students, and all are
dressed in the common school costume
of Japan. Although they may be the
in most cases are rich, they all dress
h same way and wear the same
costume. No frills or furbelows are
to be seen anywhere, the only differ
ence being in n arrangement of the
hair. The faces. however, are aristo-
cratic and refined. Most of the girls
come of long lines Of hi"h ancestry,
and man. Of them are beautiful.
How polite they are! They bend al
most double as they pass the profess
sor. and there is no sign of rudeness
to be seen anywhere.
III NtD1 ~HNIllA<aSAtklAI.
During our stav We visit the gymna-
SUM. Hher one hundred of these
Japanese maidens are marching back
and forth at the direction Of the
eacher. She raises her hands, and
| their two hundred bare arms com up
in the air. She makes a motion and
| they fall again to their sides. The
girls have dumbbells with which they
practice the setting-up exercises. They
| rise and fall on their toes, n they go
| through all the evOlutiOns OF M drlli
as they march back and forth a body
| OF one hundred Acknowledged, cream
! colcred Amazons in plum-coloreo
skirts. Observe them as they &c.
Their shoulders are well back and they
walk like soldiers h teacher wears
a gymnasium costume when SHOWS
| the outlines Of her form. She would
make a model for a statute of Diana,
and the most of her pupils are equally
robust. They nave the advantage OF
our girls in not wearing corsets, aIid
they are developed along nature
lines.
Az we go from the gymnasium
through III yard to One Of the Other
buildings we see a class Of ide
walking the pole. This is an exercise
common to every girls school,. and J
am told it produces excellent resuitS
The pole is a log about a foot tnlcR
and thirty feet long, SO slung by means
of two chains at each end that II
hangs horizontally about a foot on
the gronnd. The teacher starts tht
log Swinging back and forth and the
girls step on at one end of 1t n Walh
to the other. It takes some Skill &c
maintain ones balance, on account O
the motion. and it brings into pla!
almost every muscle of the body.
have tried it several times and lgno-
miniously failed. These peeresses
walk it with ease.
In the S~chOOlroOmS.
The class rooms are not unIlk'
those Of the United States. with desk'
and chairs. save that all the CHAIR
are cushioned with green. we F1sl
one class and listen to n lecture OF
physics. About fifty girls are taklns
.-.:% ao6 tho,