Japanese Female Names 



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BY the Japanese a certain kind of girl is 

 called a Rose-Girl, Bara-Musume. Per- 

 haps my reader will think of Tennyson's 

 " queen-rose of the rosebud -garden of girls," 

 and imagine some analogy between the Japanese 

 and the English idea of femininity symbolized 

 by the rose. But there is no analogy whatever. 

 The Bara-Musume is not so called because she 

 is delicate and sweet, nor because she blushes, 

 nor because she is rosy ; indeed, a rosy face is 

 not admired in Japan. No ; she is compared to 

 a rose chiefly for the reason that a rose has 

 thorns. The man who tries to pull a Japanese 

 rose is likely to hurt his fingers. The man who 

 tries to win a Bara-Musume is apt to hurt him- 

 self much more seriously, even unto death. 

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