i6o 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



and geniality of their Japanses kindred, they appear even to excel the Chinese in their 

 veneration for those who have departed this life. Mr. Basil H. Chamberlain (Journal of the 

 Anthropological Institute, 1894) says: "It were scarcely too much to say that, if the living 

 dwell in hovels, the dead dwell in palaces, so imposing are the vaults, of which each family, 

 even the very poorest, possess one. . The roofs of these burial-vaults may be seen from a 

 considerable distance at sea, on account of the dazzling white plaster that distinguishes them 

 from the surrounding vegetation. On the occasion of a death, the corpse is conveyed to the 

 family vault m-selemn procession, a Buddhist priest leading the way, hired mourners following 



with bitter wails, and the kinsmen of the 

 dead bringing up the rear. The religious 

 rites duly concluded, the body is left shut 

 up for two years. Then the family again 

 assemble for the purpose of washing the 

 bones and depositing them in their final 

 resting-place, an earthenware urn, which is 

 lifted on to one of the numerous shelves 

 that run round the vault. The name of 

 the dead and the date are inscribed in 

 Chinese characters on the urn in a space 

 left for that purpose." A Liu-kiu man, 

 when hard pressed for cash, pawns his family 

 vault; for every one knows that money ad- 

 vanced on that security must be paid back. 



The usual every-day costume resembles 

 that of the Japanese, both men and women 

 wearing a simple loose robe. The men of 

 these islands, unlike the Japanese, wear 

 two large hair-pins of gold, silver, or 

 pewter, according to the wearer's rank. The 

 hair being tied in a knot on the top of 

 the head, the pins are stuck through this. 

 Young men of all classes shave clean up 

 to the age of twenty-five; after that age 

 beards and moustaches are allowed to grow. 



The gait of the people is dignified, the expression of their faces usually serious, often 

 almost sad, but singularly sweet in the venerable old men. Their voices are soft and 

 low. All the women tattoo their hands; those of the lower classes roll their hair round 

 in a twist on the top of the head, Avhere it is fastened with hair-pins. The native 

 courtesans differ greatly in their ways from those of the mainland of Japan, being very 

 frank and straightforward. It is said that every Japanese trader arriving in these islands 

 engages one of these women, to whom he entrusts everything, even to the management of 

 his mercantile affairs. When he departs, the girl sells to the best advantage those articles 

 which he confided to her charge. So that when her master comes back again, she is able 

 to render him a satisfactory account, in which there is never any error or prevarication, 

 even to the amount of a single penny. 



According to Mr. Chamberlain, Buddhism, as a religion and a rule of life in these islands, 

 is practically extinct, for Confucianism has taken its place. He speaks of the natives in terms 

 of the highest praise, and says that their system of farming would put European agriculturists 

 to shame. Schools flourish here, but of course the women are not educated. The roads are said 

 to be bad, being (except in the towns) mere tracks impassable for wheeled conveyances, and 

 the streams uncrossed by bridges. 



Photo by Messrs. Kiiji 



AINU CHILDREN. 



