126 
Japan and the Japanese. 
or shops, it is considered very bad behaviour to refuse the 
gift of more cups of tea. This custom renders visiting 
and shopping somewhat formidable undertakings in Japan. 
Sake is an intoxicating drink made from rice, used very 
largely by the natives, but tea is the household beverage. 
Girls marry when about sixteen or seventeen years of age ; 
young men, when about twenty-one. Married women shave 
their eyebrows soon after marriage, and blacken their teeth ; 
but these customs, in addition to their modes of life, soon 
make them look careworn and ugly. As a dowry, the bride 
receives some personal ornaments, and a kimono as costly 
and ornamental as the means of the parties will admit. At 
funerals, the customs vary according to different localities. 
In one part of the country, after a father's death, the house 
is burnt down, and the widow and children take refuge in 
a friend's house for three years, when the house which was 
burnt is rebuilt. Hospitality to strangers and visitors is 
universally practised j and where curiosity is exhibited, it 
rarely ever passes beyond the bounds of good manners. 
The Japanese excel in various arts. The women practise 
at home, in their leisure hours, the occupation of weaving, 
and become proficients in making native cloth, mats, and 
other materials. Silk factories have been established at 
various places, and many young women as well as men 
work at this branch of industry. Their works of art in 
lacquer, and bronze, and porcelain, are very beautiful, and 
have been produced by native artificers from very early 
times. They excel in the manufacture of papers of a 
remarkable fineness and toughness ; indeed, paper occupies 
a considerable place in their household arrangements, for it 
forms the panels of their sliding partitions, is used as panes 
for their windows, and sides for their lanterns. Further, 
they use paper for tablecloths, cloaks, waterproofs, hand- 
