i6o Japan and the Japanese, 
worn either round the neck, waist, or girdle ; and generally 
contain the name of some god upon them, with a text from 
the Buddhist scriptures. Among other superstitions we 
may mention the following : — In building a house, doors 
should be placed on the south-east side, the storehouse on 
the north-east, and the cupboards on the south-west. No 
one should sleep with the head to the north, because a 
corpse is always placed in that position. They fear ghosts 
and apparitions terribly, and keep a small candle burning 
all night, to avoid being in darkness. Purple or violet 
clothes must not be worn at weddings, or disaster and 
divorce will speedily follow. Salt must be purchased by 
day; the purchaser must throw some portions of the salt 
into the fire, to prevent misfortune. New clothes must be 
put on before the afternoon, or bad luck will follow the 
wearer. Should the chop-sticks be broken while eating, 
death will soon come to the eater. Should an eclipse of 
the sun take place, all the wells are covered carefully, for 
the common belief is, that at such times poison drops down 
from the sky, and renders the water unfit for drinking. 
During sleep the body is supposed to lie dead, as it were, 
while the soul walks about in the shape of a black ball. 
On this account, no Japanese will ever wake a sleeper 
suddenly, for fear of causing his death. 
With regard to the prospects of Christianity in Japan, 
Miss Bird writes somewhat sadly. She says that Japan 
is not ripe for the reception of the Gospel, but is, on 
account of various obstacles and hindrances, opposed to 
Christianity. The half-civilized Japanese have sharply 
criticised the conduct of so-called Christian peoples, and 
have thereby concluded that Christianity is not a good thing, 
and if adopted, would be of little benefit to them. " The 
fact remains that thirty-four millions of Japanese are sceptics 
