AINU FAMILY-LIFE AND RELIGION 83 



cup of sake, particularly if the baby be a boy and the heir. I was 

 greatly surprised to find this near approach to the couvade in this 

 part of the world, and this one little thing seems to separate the 

 Ainu further than ever from the Japanese. 



The children are trained to render strictest obedience to both 

 parents ; and if there be several sons, the eldest, as heir, exacts 

 and receives implicit obedience from his younger brothers ; from 

 his sisters obedience comes without saying, so low is the social 

 position of women. Adoption obtains to quite the same extent as 

 among the Japanese, and the legal standing of the adopted child 

 seems to be as absolute as if his right were that of birth. Adop- 

 tion is, however, almost restricted to male children, though I was 

 much surprised to find that one childless couple had adopted a 

 little Japanese girl who was so young that she had never learned 

 to speak the language of her own people. 



If a man have only female children he w^ill sometimes adopt 

 an heir, but this is not altogether necessary, since the husband of 

 the eldest girl will usually succeed his father-in-law ; and, in order 

 to thoroughly fit himself for his prospective heirship, he moves 

 into his wife's home and becomes a member of her family. But 

 if a couple be childless they will surely adopt a son, for, inasmuch 

 as inheritance is strictly in the male line, there must be some one 

 to take possession of the house and the personal property, and to 

 become the head of the household. Not that it is necessary to 

 continue the family name, for there is nothing of the kind among 

 the Ainu. Each person has but one name, without any prefix or 

 suffix to determine whose child he may be, and the name is often 

 given from a mere whim ; as, for example, if a baby-girl pitches 

 upon a dirty old pot as her favorite plaything (and this is a very 

 possible case, for toys are not common), the chances are that she 

 will very soon be designated as " The Pot " or '* The Kettle " by 

 the family, and eventually the name will become affixed to her. 

 Hence we may say that names are given to Ainu children very 

 much the same way that nicknames attach themselves to children 

 in America and Europe. 



Not only are there no family names, but each person's name 

 dies with its owner ; the repetition of a name in different genera- 

 tions having nothing to do with the preservation of the memory 

 of an older person. Children are not named for a rich uncle or 

 a maiden aunt, to secure "prospects" for them. There are no 

 posthumous names as with the Japanese, and a dead person is 

 not spoken of by name if it can be avoided by any circumlo- 

 cution ; indeed, every effort is made to avoid all reference to 

 the dead. 



The adoption of an heir is not often necessary, for barren wives 

 are sometimes sent back to their fathers ; this misfortune consti- 



