334 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



face, although the ministering love and tender care of the parent 

 are not lessened one whit with the advancing maturity of the 

 child. Again, while the relationship between brothers and sisters 

 is most sincere and cordial, embracing, kissing, or any other caress 

 is never thought of. An old Japanese precept goes so far as to 

 command that, after the age of seven, brothers and sisters should 

 not even sit together ; and up to the present dynasty this rule was 

 strictly adhered to. So, when the father of the family would read 

 aloud to the assembled children, the daughters would always sit 

 apart, half hidden by a screen. In contradistinction to these 

 apparently formal relations, brother or sister, even after having 

 attained the age of puberty, will have no hesitation in disrobing 

 or bathing before one another ; while the utmost freedom in con- 

 versation is admissible. This formality between the sexes, even 

 in the same family, may be briefly summed up in the words, 

 " Hands off ! " and apart from this the closest intimacy and affec- 

 tion may exist. 



The word " kiss " finds no exact equivalent in the Japanese 

 language ; the nearest approach to it being kuchi-su, literally " to 

 suck the mouth " — a caress only admissible in conjugal relations. 

 The principal years of a girl's life that are specially celebrated 

 are the third, seventh, and fifteenth, at which latter age she is re- 

 garded as a woman, and no longer a child. The most important 

 years of a boy's life are the third, fifth, and fifteenth, and at this 

 last age he is supposed to put off childishness, and is regarded as 

 a man and of age. Besides the two children's festivals already 

 referred to, there are four other minor boys' festivals and four 

 girls' festivals in the year, so that practically every month has its 

 " children's day." 



So much for the ethics of child life in Japan ; and much that 

 has been said concerning the same holds good also during later 

 years, in so far as the family relationships are concerned. We 

 now can turn to a consideration of the various relationships be- 

 tween the sexes. 



Engagements for marriage are either arranged by the parents 

 ■of both families, while the principals are yet children, or else 

 through the mediumship of a nakodo, or go-between, who must 

 be a friend of both families. In the former case, it is usually 

 with the desire of uniting the houses, and the engagement is 

 arranged by the parents while the contracting parties are only 

 infants ; or even — conditionally, of course — before the birth of 

 •either child. The children thus engaged are brought up to re- 

 gard each other as affianced, although their relationship toward 

 •each other is no more than playmate or friend, until the consum- 

 mation of the marriage. 



When a youth chooses a wife for himself, and has settled upon 



