Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-27
nice gun for So and tin sword for 10

nice gun for So and a tin sword for 10
cents.
Many Of the toys and games are used in
teaching the children. There are playing
cards with classical poetry on them. used
much like our game of authors. An
other pack of cards teaches the old Japa-
neSe proverbs, and another the names and
forms of animals The Japanese are ex
perts in top spinning. They have whis-
thing tops and can keep a half dozen of
them going at one time. They play bat
tedore and shuttlecock. especially at
New Year. and at that time the stores
are filled with bats and balls. Many toys
are used in the kindergartens and there
are games which teach history and geOg-
raphy and also cleanliness unselfshness
and morality.
The japanese have fairy tales Of all
kinds. They have stories like Goody Two
Shoes and Hop-o-my-Thumb.T The Hoppe
my-Thumb of Japan is a priest one inch
long. who does all sorts of curious things.
Another popular fairy tale is known as
the Lucky Teakettle. another the Battle
of the Monkey and the Crab. and a third.
the Old Man Who Made the Dead Trees
to Blossom. The Story of Urishima,
sort of a Japanese Rip Van Wrinkle. is
exceedingly popular. as are also many ia
bles about the badger, which might be
called the Bre'r Rabbit Of japanese child
hood
But suppose we call upon some Of our
little Japanese friends. Their house is sit
uated in beautiful garden Its roof is
covered with black tiles and il has dou-
BILE walls of wood. The outer walls Of
each side are showed back during the day
time into little cupboards at the corners.
and the fine inner walls of sash filled with
paper panes may then be seen. There is a
space between the two walls. and in this
we sit while awaiting our friends. They
soon appear. They get down on their
l,1s,, h. <,,A Ann~
I'm bowling to us. and then ask us in. We
take off our shoes and leave them outside.
This is the custom of all Japanese. The
houses are exceedingly clean, and the
floors are covered with thick mats Of
woven white straw which would be hurt
by the nails in our shoes. The mats are
so soft that our feet sink into them, and
we feel like lying down and rolling over
and over.
In the meantime our little Japanese
friends have laid cushions on the mats
and beg us to sit. These people do not
use chairs or sofas. They have tables for
eating which are not more than foot
high. and they sit and sleep on the floor.
The mats are soft and when they have
taken out and spread on them some we'll
padded cOmforterS they have a very soft
bed In the daytime these comforters are
rolled I'D in bundle and put away in a
cupboard or hole in the wall which by
sliding door is so covered that you would
rot suppose it was there. By this means
the bedroom is turned into a parlor and
when a table is brought in it is dining
room as well.
As we sit on the mats our little friends
tell us about their homes. explaining some
customs which are different from ours.
They say that the mats are cleaner than
our carpets and that they are very con-
venient in describing house. as they are
always of the same size. They show us
that each mat is three feet wide and six
feet long and say that the size of house
or room is known by the number of mats
it takes to cover the floor. The room we
are i'm has eight mats. Larger rooms have
twenty or thirty mats, and when a car
penter starts to build a house he asks the
owner how many mats he wants, and thus