120 Shadowings 



name, by Japanese custom, always preceding the 

 personal name, instead of being, as with us, 

 placed after it. 



This suffix ho is written with the Chinese 

 character meaning "child," and must not be 

 confused with the word ho, written with a dif 

 ferent Chinese character, and meaning "little," 

 which so often appears in the names of dancing 

 girls. I should venture to say that this genteel 

 suffix has the value of a caressing diminutive, 

 and that the name Aiko might be fairly well 

 rendered by the " Amoretta " of Spenser's Faerie 

 Queene. Be this as it may, a Japanese lady 

 named Setsu or Sada would not be addressed 

 in these days as O-Setsu or O-Sada, but as 

 Setsuko or Sadako. On the other hand, if a 

 woman of the people were to sign herself as 

 Setsuko or Sadako, she would certainly be 

 laughed at, since the suffix would give to her 

 appellation the meaning of "the Lady Setsu," 

 or "the Lady Sada." 



I have said that the honorific " O " is placed 

 before the yobina of women of the middle and 

 lower classes. Even the wife of a hurumaya 

 would probably be referred to as the " Honor 

 able Mrs. Such-a-one." But there are very 



