The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-03-30
YOUNG JAPAN
BY FRANK G.
A Day For DOIIies.
FRANK G.

ours q great girls holiday known as
the feast Of the dolls. On this day the
boys have to stand in the background.
Their parents pay little attention to
them and they make the girls, for the
time, the chief embe Of the family.
It is the one day in the year when they
are more important than the boys.
At this time every girl gets a new doll,
and all the dolls Of the family, in
Guiding those of mother. grandmother
and great-grandmOther, are brought
out to be admired and played with.
The dolls used at this time are not
with only once a year, and then laid
away for twelve months, when the
next doll festival comes. These dolls
represent some ~favorite prince or
princess, some hero Or heroine II
sometimes the emperor or empress.
for them in the back Of the parlOr or
in the most IGNORED place in the house
and they are placed upon this in rows.
The children then sit down in front
Of them and talk to them. They put
food and drink before them in tiny
dishes, and listen to stories about
them. They give them doll toys.
| which are as fine as they can afford.
In rich families the toy dishes are
sometimes of silver with little toy sll-
yer chop sticks for the toy emperor
n empress to eat with. They serve
toy wine, made especially for this
feast, in toy cups. Some families
lave collection of dolls, which have
been saved by the children for gener-
atoms. and which go back for a hum
dred years or more.
Then the stores are filled with DOL
lies for this feast. and the little vel
1OW-skinned girls trot around in bright
kimOnos on their wooden clogs. admir-
ing them and picking out the ones
which are to be bought for this festi-
val.
The Teddy Bears of Japan.
The ordinary japanese doll used Iy
the girls is not like the American arti-
Gle. 1t is a miniature japanese child
or wonnan with the blacklist of black
eyes, with queerIy dressed Japanese
hair, wearing q ki1nono and wooden
shoes Such dolls are Of all sizes,
from as big as your finger to your lit
tie baby sister, and the children in
playing with them often carry them
about on their backs, tying them on
with strings. Just as the real japanese
babies are tied. In the stores there
are all sorts of doll furniture, and one
"a get a full housekeeping outfit for
a very few cents.
Among the queerest plaything III
the way of pets are what might be
called the Teddy Bears of Japan" ]
call them puppy-cats. They are in
reality a sort of a cross between q DOG
and cat. made Of PAPER mache and
painted in rye colors. The Jap
anese call them mo hauricO,' and i,
is not beneath the dignity Of the boys
to Dla With them. They are as popu-
las as the TEDDY Bears with us, and
they would. | doubt not. be great faro
rites with our children if introduced
at home.
4 Day For Boys.
The boys of Japan have their SpeCia
day also. This is May ). and it j:
known as the feast of flags or as tn
festival Of the god of war. On cha
day every house has a pole Of bamboo
from which to float gaudy fish made
Of tough The wind blows into
the mouths Of the fish and initiate:
them, and they swim about through
the air, Sometimes there will be {
! half dozen Of these fish on one pole
There will be a big one at the top ant
smaller ones below. until the one q
the bottom may be the size of a min
now. Each fish represents a son O
the family and not a few have six o
more. Some Of these fish may b
fifty feet long, and they look Xix,
great whales as they swim in the ali
They represent the carp, which i
; noted for it's strength and daring
Every one wants his son to become
strong man. and this fish mean
strength.
Kite Fights.
The japanese boys are great kit
flyers. | have counted a hundre,
5 kites in the air at one time over
JdpdlitSt NlildSt. lnp Kites are OF d
sizes, but they are usually square o
} oblong instead of the shapes know
| in America. They are often mad
z like birds with wings, and sometime
| like fish. A favorite amusement j
{ fighting kites. In this sport til
! strings are first soaked in glue an
I then busted with powdered glass. Thi
: is done for a long distance from tn
5 kite, and it makes h a part of I'll
2 string a sort of flexible file. Vine
! two boys fight their kites they try t
/ make their strings cross as the kite
$ are flying and by saving cut one strin
4 in two. The kite which breaks ava
first then becomes the property of tn
2 owner of the one which is still flyins
e The favorite time for kite flying is i
7 the winter, and il is at it's height abou
a New Year. There are kite stores i
& the IananASe cities xuhASa ciun il