The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1910-12-28

branch OF the bamboo tree with its feaves and
twigs to symbolic good fortune. is used rs a
duster in completing the thorough sweeping Al
this time the soft rice mats of which the floor.
Ing In Japanese homes is made are renewed I'm
order that the callers at the New Year may be
received where they can enjoy a spotless footing.
At this time. too. all matrons and maids are
busy getting ready for New Years day
kimonos that shall have trace in them of the
vanished past To old and young the daily theme
of thought and talk is the coming New Year."
full as much as "Christmas" is to u.s.
Outside the houses symbolic decoration has
full sway and transforms the thoroughfares into
gayly coored and evergreen avenues The tree
less streets turned. for the time being. into
vistas Of swaying bamboo and pine trees. Before
each house entrance. according to the tenants
purses and taste. stands kind OF archway. Its
pine branches. supposedly male and female.
shafts tboth trees symbolic of longevity that is
of hardness that has borne the storms and
struggles of long life into n rugged old age) well
come the visitor. Over head. spanning the space
between these uprights OF the arch. is a decorat-
ed rope always OF rice straw. having on IL various
pendants arranged In series Of seven. nve and
three lucky numbers). The rope recalls one of
the most reyered and poetic traditions OF the Jap
anese past. The sun goddess the ancestress Of
the imperial house of the empire. angered
with her brother in the ancient days and in re-
venge hid herself In q Darkness then pre-
vailed In heaven and over the earth The gods.
out of her hiding place. But in vain did they
appear until. In a dance they had arranged. she
induced by taunt that touched her vanity
to open the door OF her sefchosen dungeon. One
of the gods then drew her forth. and. to prevent
her running back into the cave. stretched a straw
rope across the entrance The perpetual shining
of the sun. secured thereby. remains memorial
lied in the garianded barrier hanging above each
Japanese portal at New Years time
Among the most noticeable and significant cb
jects ornamenting these doorway arches is a scar
let lobster. embedded among some branches of a
bush whose old leaves remain unshed until after
the young leaves have budded. The Holsters
crooked body tells of old age bent with years.
while the bush branches around II show how
parents remain while children and chill
dren's children may come into being. In the
same decoration fronds Of fern are placed. whose
pairs Of leaves symbolize welded life. The or
ange. whose color brightens the clustered sym
bols. bears a name which. pun means gen
erations.' and tells OF family perpetuity. Sea
weed is there too. n memorial Of good fortune.
commemorating also the prehistoric conquest of
Korea by the Empress lingo. Her troops were in
danger of defeat because their horses on the Ro-
rean seashore starving from lack of food.
But, by inspiration she ordered seaweed to be
plucked from the waters OF the beach and given
to the horses, who then were SO invigorated that
they carried their riders to glorious victory.
Gohei white bands of paper the gar
lands Of the doorway arches symbolic OF the an
Client offerings that have the favor of the
myriad gods"
After busy weeks Of preparation at last the
closing day of the year comes. On New Years
eve the whole country is astir and every place
that needs light for use or beauty is frightened
All through that night the people stay out of bed
to see the old year pass and to welcome the new.
Merchants do not to bed until the dawn of
New Years day All the business accounts OF
the closing year must be settled that night. and
in every Of the word the year be begun
afresh among those Japanese who guided by
the old social order. All things made
Bad luck. bad feelings. unsettled debts. all
to be done away with and a chapter OF life
opened. filled with happy prospects. The COM
plete renewal OF old-fashioned Japanese life at
the New Year is well shown in of the names
that the day bears. San Gan. The Three Begin