The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-03-29
KEEPING HOUSE IN JAPAN
An Intensely Engaging Sketch of the More Init
mate Customs and Life of the japanese
By Gertrude Emerson an McCaWs Magazine

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The use of paper is another sug-
gestive point which we might do
we'll to consider. Paper is made
to serve thousand different pur-
poses. AS substitute for glass it
has already been mentioned. It is,
of course, much cheaper. The
light transmitted is clear and soft.
Although it is not durable, the
wooden 'amado," or shutters,
which can be put on the outside of
the house in case of rain or heavy
wind, protect it fairly we'll. One
of the accomplishments of women
is the mending of the torn shoji
with fresh rice-paper. Every
japanese carries with him a small
bundle of sheets of paper neatly
folded. A very soft, fbrous quality,
80 soft that it makes no noise
whatever when it is crumpled, is
used for handkerchiefs. The econ
omy and sanitary virtue of this
use need no amplifcation. The
Japanese also make use of paper
in connection with the handling of
food. 1t is never in good taste to
touch any kind of food with the
hands. If you wish to eat fruit or
hard boiled egg, as | have seen
people do in the trains, you hold it
on sheet of your clean paper and
use a little wooden stick like tooth
picks. Once one acquires the habit
of carrying a package of paper, it
is impossible to do without it.
Leaves, also, are used extensively
in the serving of fruit, or cake,
or the Japanese sweet paste, COM
parable to Turkish Delight.
Paper fans and lanterns have
found their way into nearly every
country in the world. Half the
charm of street life is in the long
lanterns of oiled paper fastened at
the side of the jinrikishas. They
have metal cap and base, and
shut up like a drinking-cup; the
delicate round lanterns attached to
the end of bamboo stick are easi-
ly carried in the hand; the great
lanterns three and four feet high
with Haunting black characters
painted on them, that swing out
side a shop door, fascinate you
wherever you 60. One of the
most interesting touches of Japa-
nese conceit is in the crest or
monogram which every family, no
matter how ignoble, has a right to
bear, for a crest represents a fami-
ly name. There are books with
thousands of them-variations of
the flowers of plum and cherry
trees; crossed arrows, chrysanthe-
NUNS, panlowna leaves, peonies,
waves, birds, conventional patterns.
The "mon," or crest, is stamped
or embroidered on the sleeve, and
in the middle and back of the XII
mono and "hauri'; it appears on
the lanterns. and it is worked into
the designs of cloths; it is stamped
on the cushions placed on the
floors; wherever there is any op-
portunity to use design the mon
comes to the front.
Many of these crest lanterns are
exceedingly effective as house deco
rations, although they are not used
so distinctively in Japan. Open
work brass ones, lined with rice
paper, may often be used with
electric light. One cheap method
of securing a very pretty shade for
an electric light is simply to cut in
half a large paper lantern with
some soft design of silhouette or
landscape-not the gaudy lanterns
popularly imported for our taste
and attach to the top by means of
fine silk threads run through the
wooden ring to the wire of the
electric light. There are also
small hanging bronze or iron lam
terms in which the japanese use a
very simple natural oil and wick in
an open cup. "Anchon." or floor