JAPANESE CUSTOMS AND HABITS. 199 



The Japanese are from their early days given to 

 fun, games, and merriment. To see a school-door open, 

 and the rush of boisterous, laughing children that 

 appear, does one good. The same incident in China is 

 totally different ; not a sound escapes the little urchins' 

 lips. They go straight home, quietly, sedately, and as 

 soberly as their grandmothers or grandfathers would ; 

 for laughing is strictly prohibited, and they are whipped 

 if ever found doing so. 



Toy-shops are in every village. Some of these toys 

 are most ingenious. The dolls are true representations 

 of the human form, even to the minutest particulars. 

 Kite-flying is quite a national pastime. To watch the 

 old grey-headed grandfather of a family taking a lot of 

 little ones to fly their kites is most amusing. It is 

 doubtful which child, the old or the young, gets the 

 most excited. 



All eastern nations are great fish-eaters, and the 

 Japanese are no exception to this general rule. The 

 sea adjoining their coasts abounds in excellent fish ; the 

 quality improves the further north you go, and as the 

 temperature of the water decreases. They begin with 

 the whale, as I have before mentioned. The tunny comes 

 next in size. Quantities of this great coarse fish are 

 caught on the Kii coast, and from thence sent to all the 



