The Washington times., 1921-10-02

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| I'm JAPAN by |
] 3 LIME LETTER |
TOKYO, Oct. Ia divorce In
Japan Is called ''the three-line
letter." the explanation Of the
quaint term being that divorce was
formerly q matter for the pleasure
Of the husband, who. when he
wished to get rid Of q wife dismissed
her with . certificate written In
three lines and . half.
The fine simplicity Of the proceed
Ing Ii revealed In TRANSACTIONS OF q
number Of old certificates which
have been made by DR.. Shigato
Hozumi. . legal authority. One
reads:
Certificate Of Divorce.
hereby certify for purposes Of
future reference that your daughter
to whom I got married should be
divorced. N do not agree with her
and henceforth she Il free to marry
any person.
IwAsE ToMosABuRo.
SIN more plain 10 the reason an
nexed to the following: ,el...
Certificate Of Divorce.
hereby announces that the
woman called o-Yone IL divorced &C.
cording to my own convenience, and
she ID free to marry any person.
KAMEKICHI.
Even when the husband was q
"scaiiywag." and admitted II. the
procedure still followed the same
lofty masculine line. a. witness q
certificate In which the husband
pleads guilty in the document In
which he effects the divorce:
Certificate Of Divorce.
Because of the inexcusable mis-
behavior that I committed recently
to the great annoyance Of our rela-
tives, I hereby announce that you
are divorced. and shall raise no
objections whatever against your
marrying with whomsoever You
desire.
HUSBAND THE JUDGE.
The above was clearly q case In
which III America there would have
been q divorce against the Grant
husband. but the Eastern conception
Of the wife's place In the family
still left the matter wholly to the
decision Of her lord and master.
Divorce used to be very common
among the lower classes and very
rare among the rich. The differ
ence II sarcastically explained by
Prof. Chamberlain when he asks
why should man take the trouble
to get divorced from an uncongenial
wife when any wife occupies too in
ferior = position to be able to make
herself q serious nuisance. and when
society has no objection to his keep
ing any number of mistressesf The
seven grounds for divorce. according
to the old code. were disobedience'
barrenness. lewd conduct. jealousy.
disease. talking too much, and thiev-
ishness. There were, on the other
hand, three cases in which he could
not divorce her: II the wife had
strictly observed the mourning for
her parents-in-law. II he had be-
come richer than when they were
married and II the wife had no homo
to return to.
RULES ARE ANCIENT. -.
These rules. II should be said.
date from the old days-that Ia, be-
fore Isss-but, with the great ma
jority Of Japanese, divorce still re-
mains very much a matter Of the
husbands sovereign win and pleas
ure. II O marriage Is registered II
can only be dissolved on legal
GROUNDS, but so many people keep
to the old customs. and opit the
new tangled formaiity Of registra-
ton, after the ceremony, there are
still large number Of marriages
WHICH can be ended by q three
line letter"
Do not imagine. however. that the
Japanese wife Is downtrodden
creature. Social traditions have
limited the sphere within which she
may exercise her activities but she
still lives a happy and useful life.
and one sees far fewer specimens
of unhappy womanhood In the cities
OF japan than in the east ends Of
the West. Y