William Elliot Griffis

“ Many foreigners have wondered what the Japanese do at night, and how the long winter evenings are spent. On fair and especially moonlight nights, most of the people are out of doors, and many of the children with them. Markets and fairs are held regularly at night in Tokio, and in the other large cities. The foreigner living in a Japanese city, even if he were blind, could tell by stepping out of doors, whether the weather were clear and fine or disagreeable. On dark and stormy nights the stillness of a great city like Tokio is unbroken and very impressive ”

“ With the exception of Corea, Japan has been almost entirely without foreign enemies. For obvious reasons, none of the great victories gained by Japanese heroes over their own countrymen have found a monument in the street nomenclature of Yedo. It would have been unwise policy in the great unifier of Japan, Iyeyasŭ, to have given to the streets in the capital of a nation, finally united in peaceful union, any name that would be a constant source of humiliation, that would keep alive bitter memories, or that would irritate freshly-healed wounds. ”

“ Certain it is that the adults do all in their power to provide for the children their full quota of play and harmless sports. We frequently see full-grown and able-bodied natives indulging in amusements which the men of the west lay aside with their pinafores, or when their curls are cut. If we, in the conceited pride of our superior civilization, look down upon this as childish, we must remember that the Celestial, from the pinnacle of his lofty, and to him immeasurably elevated, civilization, looks down upon our manly sports with contempt, thinking it a condescension even to notice them. ”

“ The chief idea prominent in the nomenclature of the streets of Yedo exhibits that trait of Japanese character which enters so largely into the national temperament—the passionate love of nature and natural scenery. Their beautiful country at once creates and satisfies their love of nature’s beauty, and this feeling finds expression even in the street names. ”

“ Thus, while those of London, like those of Paris, tell of the national passion for war and glory, and all that is spectacular and heroic, they tell also of what is dear to humanity in all its phases, from the sublime to the most ridiculous. ”

“ The study of the subject leads one to respect more highly, rather than otherwise, the Japanese people for being such affectionate fathers and mothers, and for having such natural and docile children. The character of the children’s plays and their encouragement by the parents has, I think, much to do with that frankness, affection and obedience on the side of the children, and that kindness and sympathy on that of the parents, which are so noticeable in Japan, and which is one of the good points of Japanese life and character. ”

“ In the villages containing relays of horses, coolies, kagos, etc., the Daimios and lesser folk could rest or lodge, obtain entertainment for man and beast, and fresh reinforcements of either. At the present day the people born in the immediate neighborhood of Temma Cho, boast, with pride, their birth in the oldest part of Japan’s capital, believing themselves to be therefore, Japanese of the Japanese, of specially pure blood, and peculiary, children of the Empire of the Rising Sun. The oldest avenue, or large street is called the Tori, which begins at Shinagawa. ”

“ Among a nation of players such as the Japanese may be said to have been, it is not always easy to draw the line of demarcation between the diversions of children proper and those of a larger growth. Indeed, it might be said that during the last two centuries and a half, previous to the coming of foreigners, the main business of this nation was play. ”

“ The battledore is a wooden bat; one side of which is of bare wood, while the other has the raised effigy of some popular actor, hero of romance, or singing girl in the most ultra Japanese style of beauty. The girls evidently highly appreciate this game, as it gives abundant opportunity to the display of personal beauty, figure and dress. Those who fail in the game often have their faces marked with ink, or a circle drawn round their eyes. The boys sing a song that the wind will blow, the girls sing that it may be calm so that their shuttlecocks may fly straight. ”

“ Story tellers, posturers, dancers, actors of charades, conjurers, flute-players, song-singers are found on these streets, but those who specially delight the children are the men who, by dint of breath and fingers, work a paste made of wheat-gluten, into all sorts of curious and gaily-smeared toys such as flowers, trees, noblemen, fair ladies, various utensils, the foreigner, the jin-riki-sha, &c. Nearly every itinerant seller of candy, starch-cakes, sugared peas, and sweetened beans has several methods of lottery by which he adds to the attractions on his stall. ”

“ About the time of the old New Year’s when the winds of February and March are favorable to the sport, kites are flown, and there are few sports in which Japanese boys, from the infant on the back to the full-grown, and the over-grown, boy, take more delight. I have never observed, however, as foreign books so often tell us, old men flying kites and boys merely looking on. The Japanese kites are made of tough paper pasted on a frame of bamboo sticks and are usually of a rectangular shape. ”

“ At present the custom is coming in vogue of nailing up on the corners of the streets small boards containing the names of the streets and the numbers of the division or ward, and subdivision or precinct, of the neighbourhood. In many places, especially in the unbuilt or newly surveyed portions, small stakes, marked as above, are driven into the ground, and act as guide-posts. In directing a letter we must write the name of the person, street and number, the ward and precinct, and to avoid all mistake, the ancient name of the neighbourhood. ”

“ In the winter evenings in Japanese households the children amuse themselves with their sports, or are amused by their elders, who tell them entertaining stories. The samurai father relates to his son Japanese history and heroic lore, to fire him with enthusiasm and a love of those achievements which every samurai youth hopes at some day to perform. ”

“ In some old Japanese families in which I have visited, the display of dolls and images was very large and extremely beautiful.
The greatest day in the year for the boys is on the fifth day of the fifth month. On this day is celebrated what has been called the “Feast of Flags.” Previous to the coming of the day the shops display for sale the toys and tokens proper to the occasion. These are all of a kind suited to young Japanese masculinity. They consist of effigies of heroes and warriors, generals and commanders, soldiers on foot and horse, the genii of strength and valor, wrestlers etc. ”

“ The proverb is printed on one card, and the picture illustrating it upon another. Each proverb begins with a certain one of the 50 Japanese letters, i, ro, ha, &c., and so on through the syllabary. The children range themselves in a circle and the cards are shuffled and dealt. One is appointed to be reader. Looking at his cards he reads the proverb. The player who has the picture corresponding to the proverb calls out, and the match is made. Those who are rid of their cards first, win the game. The one holding the last card is the loser. ”

“ A very noticeable change has passed over the Japanese people since the modern advent of foreigners, in respect to their love of amusements. Their sports are by no means as numerous or elaborate as formerly, and they do not enter into them with the enthusiasm that formerly characterized them. The children’s festivals and sports are rapidly losing their importance, and some are now rarely seen. ”

“ Men or women itinerates, carrying a small charcoal brazier under a copper griddle, with batter, spoons, cups and shoyu sauce to hire out for the price of a cash each to the little urchins who spend an afternoon of bliss, making their own griddle-cakes and eating them. The seller of sugar-jolly exhibits a devil, taps a drum and dances for the benefit of his baby-customers. The seller of mochi does the same with the addition of gymnastics and skilful tricks with balls of dough. ”

“ Besides sliding on the ice, coasting with sleds, building snow-forts and fighting mimic battles with snow-balls, they make many kinds of images and imitations of what they see and know. In America the boy’s snowman is a Paddy with a damaged hat, clay pipe in mouth, and the shillelah in his hand. ”

“ As the lamp burns down low the room becomes gloomy and dark, and the last boy, it is said, always sees a demon, a huge face, or something terrible. In the Kon-demashi or “Soul-examination,” a number of boys, during the day plant some flags in different parts of a graveyard, under a lonely tree, or by a haunted hill-side. At night, they meet together, and tell stories about ghosts, goblins, devils, &c., and at the conclusion of each tale, when the imagination is wrought up, the boys, one at a time, must go out in the dark and bring back the flags, until all are brought in. ”

“ Next to natural objects in respect to number, are the names of indispensable articles used in everyday life. In a country where the houses are almost universally built of wood timber is almost as necessary as food, and we are not surprised to find in Yedo, more than a score of ‘Timber’ streets. ‘File’ ‘Pot,’ ‘Kettle’ and ‘Table,’ etc., repeat their names several times. ‘Salt’ street is a very common one, and the same is the case with ‘Norimono,’ ‘Wheel,’ ‘Indigo,’ ‘Mat,’ ‘Fan,’ ‘Kitchen,’ ‘Hair Pin,’ ‘Charcoal,’ and ‘Leather,’ streets. ”

“ Various individuals have had their own names transferred to streets, or have named them themselves, but these persons were mostly men of no renown, or at least of merely local fame; good, honest or wealthy nobodies, of whom no history speaks, and who were unknown except to their own friends and neighbours, and perhaps not heard of beyond the smoke of their own dwellings. ”

“ Ayrton would, however, take the liberty of suggesting that too much weight should not be laid on the observations required by the Washington Signal Board being purely mechanical, since, although in such cases a great deal could be done by a well regulated mechanical mind, a great deal more could be achieved by men whose minds shewed an aptitude for original scientific research. Such men, his experience has shewn him, were to be found among the Japanese. ”

“ A disk having a revolving arrow, whirled round by the hand of a child, or a number of strings which are connected with the faces of imps, goddesses, devils or heroes, lends the excitement of chance, and when a lucky pull or whirl occurs, occasions the subsequent addition to the small fraction of a cent’s worth to be bought. ”

“ After all the curious and suggestive bits of information that may be gained by a study of the street-nomenclature of Yedo, we must acknowledge that it exhibits in its frequent repetitions of the same names a poverty and lack of variety that can scarcely be explained except by assigning as a reason, what is in reality the fact ”

“ Several days before the matsuri, the shops are gay with the images bought for this occasion and which are on sale only at this time of year. Every respectable family have a number of these splendidly dressed images, which are from four inches to a foot in height, and which accumulate from generation to generation. When a daughter is born in the house during the previous year, a pair of hina or images are purchased for the little girl, which she plays with until grown up. ”

“ The basis of the organization, division and local duties of this force, is the same as that of the divisions of the city, there being ninety-six station houses in the various parts of the city. We hazard the belief that there is no other city in the world in which the public peace and order are better kept, or in which the safety of the inhabitants is better secured. ”

“ Apprentice-boys had a liberal quota of holidays stipulated in their indentures, and as the children counted the days before each great holiday on their fingers, we may believe that a great deal of digital arithemetic was being continually done. ”

“ The little girls at this time play with a ball made of cotton cord, covered elaborately with many strands of bright vari-coloured silk. Inside the house they have games suited not only for the daytime, but for the evenings. ”

“ Ayrton could judge, to have no reference to the lottery. Could Mr. Griffis inform them whether seeing the wheel of chance turning round was merely an attraction to the buyers, or whether the place at which the wheel stopped in any way determined the amount of sweets given to each of the children who had previously deposited their ju mons? ”

“ It is possible for a boat from Yokohama, or from the interior, to convey goods to almost any point within the castle moats, excepting points on the western side, and to many places in the northern and southern portions of the city. ”

“ Some of them, however, are made to represent children or men, several kinds of birds and animals, fans, etc. On the rectangular kites are pictures of ancient heroes or beautiful women, dragons, horses, monsters of various kinds, or huge Chinese characters. Among the faces most frequently seen on these kities are those of Yoshitsune, Kintaro, Yoritamo, Benkei, Daruma, Tomoye, and Hangaku. Some of the kites are six feet square. Many of them have a thin tense ribbon of whalebone at the top of the kite which vibrates in the wind, making a loud humming noise. ”