Chapter I: Preface

The object of the present work is to give a concise account of the life we lead at home in Tokyo. I am aware that there are already many excellent works on Japan which may be read with great profit; but as their authors are most of them Europeans or Americans, and naturally look at Japanese life and civilisation from an occidental point of view, it occurred to me that notwithstanding the superabundance of books on Japan, a description of Japanese life by a native of the country might not be without interest. I believe it is the first time that such a task has been undertaken by a Japanese, for works in English which I have so far seen written by my countrymen treat of abstruse subjects and do not deign to touch upon such homely matters as are here dealt with.

The information I have endeavoured to convey in these pages is open, I fear, to the charge of scrappiness. It is unavoidable from the very nature of the work, the purpose of which is to select from the wealth of material in hand such matters as are likely to interest the general reader. I make no pretension to completeness or comprehensiveness of treatment.

I may also explain that I have confined myself in these pages to the depiction of life in Tokyo. To attempt to include the various customs that prevail in other parts of the country would to difficult and tedious. I felt that it would add materially to clearness and simplicity if I localised my observations; and it was only natural that Tokyo the capital should be selected for the purpose.

Finally, I would point out that I have made no distinction in the grammatical number of the Japanese words used in this book. It may at times puzzle the reader to find the same words occur, as in Japanese, in both the singular and the plural; but to the Japanese ear the addition of the English plural suffix seems to impair the euphony of Japanese speech.

JUKICHI INOUYE.

Tokyo, Japan,
September. 1910.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Tokyo the Capital.

The youngest of the capitals—Yedo—The feudal government—Prosperity
of Yedo—Its population—The military class—The Restoration—The new
government—National reorganisation—Centralisation—Local
government—Tokyo the leader of other cities—Struggle between Old and
New Japan—The last stronghold of Old Japan.

—_Page 1._

CHAPTER II.

The Streets of Tokyo.

The area and population of Tokyo—Impression of greater
populousness—Street improvements—Narrow streets—Shops and
sidewalks—Road-making—Dusty roads—Lamps and street
repairs—Drainage—Street-names—House-numbers—Incongruities.

—_Page 12._

CHAPTER III.

Houses: Exterior.

Name-plates—Block-buildings—Gates—The exposure of
houses—Fires—House-breaking—Japanese houses in summer and
winter—Storms and earthquakes—House-building—The carpenter—The
garden.

—_Page 24._

CHAPTER IV.

Houses: Interior.

The sizes of rooms—The absence of
furniture—Sliding-doors—Verandahs—Tenement and other small
houses—Middle-sized dwellings—The porch and anteroom—The
parlour—Parlour furniture—The sitting-room—Closets and
cupboards—Bed-rooms—The dining-room—Chests of drawers and
trunks—The toilet-room—The library—The bath-room—Foot-warmers.

—_Page 40._

CHAPTER V.

Meals.

Rice—_Sake_—Wheat and barley—Soy
sauce—_Mirin_—Rice-cooking—Soap—Pickled vegetables—Meal
trays—Chopsticks—Breakfast—Clearing and washing—The kitchen—The
little hearth—Pots and pans—Other utensils—Boxes and
casks—Shelves—The sink and water-supply—The midday meal—The evening
meal—_Sake_-drinking.

—_Page 56._

CHAPTER VI.

Food.

Japanese diet—Vegetables—Sea-weeds and flowers—Fish—Shell-fish—Crabs
and other molluscs—Fowl—Meat—Prepared food—Peculiarities
of food—Fruits—The bever—Baked potatoes and
cracknel—Confectionery—Reasons for its
abundance—Sponge-cake—Glutinous rice and red bean—Kinds of
confectionery—Sugar in Japanese confectionery.

—_Page 71._

CHAPTER VII.

Male Dress.

Japanese and foreign dress—Progress in the latter—Japanese clothes
indispensable—_Kimono_—Cutting out—Making of an unlined dress—Short
measure—Extra-sized dresses—_Yukata_—The lined _kimono_—The wadded
_kimono_—Under-dress—Underwear—_Obi_—_Haori_—The crest—The uncrested
_haori_—_Hakama_—Socks—How to dress Wearing of socks.

—_Page 82._

CHAPTER VIII.

Female Dress.

Attempts at Europeanisation—Difference between Japanese and foreign
dresses—Expense and inconvenience of foreign dresses—Japanese
dresses not to be discarded—How the female dress differs from the
male—Underwear and over-band—_Haori_—_Hakama_—_Obi_—How to tie
it—The dress-_obi_—The formal dress—Home-wear—Working clothes—The
sameness of form—The girl’s dress—Dress and age.

—_Page 94._

CHAPTER IX.

Toilet.

Queues—Hair-cutting—Moustaches and beards—Shaving—Women’s
coiffure—Children’s hair—“Inverted maidenhair”—_Shimada_—“Rounded
chignon”—Other forms—The lightest coiffure—Bars—Combs—Ornaments
round the chignon—Hair-pins—The hair-dresser—The kind of hair
esteemed—Lots of complexion—Girls painted—Women’s paint—Blackening
of teeth—Shaving of eyebrows—Washing the face—Looking-glasses.

—_Page 107._

CHAPTER X.

Outdoor Gear.

Boots and shoes _versus_ clogs and sandals—Inconvenience of
foreign footgear—Shoes and boots at private houses—Clogs and
sandals able to hold their own—How clogs are made—Plain clogs—Matted
clogs—Sandals—Straw sandals—Headgear—Woman’s hood—Overcoats and
overdresses—Common umbrellas—Better descriptions of
umbrellas—Lanterns—Better kinds of lanterns.

—_Page 122._

CHAPTER XI.

Daily Life.

Busy life at home—Discomforts of early morning—Ablutions—Off to
school and office—Smoking—Giving orders—Morning
work—Washing—Needlework—The work-box—Japanese way of
sewing—Ironing—Remaking clothes—Home duties—Bath—Evening—Early
hours.

—_Page 136._

CHAPTER XII.

Servants.

The servant question—Holidays—Hours of rest—Incessant work—Servants
trusted—Relations with their mistresses—Decrease of mutual
confidence—Life in the kitchen—Servants’ character—Whence they are
recruited—Register-offices—The cook—The housemaid—The lady’s
maid—Other female servants—The jinrikisha-man—The student house-boy.

—_Page 150._

CHAPTER XIII.

Manners.

Decline of etiquette—Politeness and
self-restraint—“Swear-words”—Honorifics—Squatting—Kissing—Calls
made and received—Rules for behaviour in company—Inconsiderate
visitors—Woman’s reserve before strangers—Hospitality—Reticence
on family matters.

—_Page 164._

CHAPTER XIV.

Marriage.

Girls and marriage—Young men—The marriage
ceremony—Match-making—Betrothal—The bride’s property—Wedding
decorations—The nuptials—Wedding supper—Congratulations—Post-nuptial
parties—Japanese style of engagement—The advantages of the
go-between system—The go-between as the woman’s deputy—The
go-between as mediator—Marriage a civil contract in Japan—No
honeymoon—The Japanese attitude towards marriage.

—_Page 176._

CHAPTER XV.

Family Relations.

The family the unit of society—Adoption—The wife’s family
relations—The father—Retirement—The retired father—The
mother-in-law—A strong-willed daughter-in-law—Tender
relations—Domestic discord—Sisters-in-law—Brothers-in-law—The
wife usually forewarned—The husband also handicapped—His
burdens—Old Japan’s ideas of wifely duties—The Japanese wife’s
qualities—Petticoat government—The wife’s influence.

—_Page 195._

CHAPTER XVI.

Divorce.

Frequency of divorces—The new Civil Code on marriage
and divorce—Conditions of a valid marriage—Invalid
marriages—Cohabitation—The wife’s legal position—Her
separate property—The rights of the head of the family—Care
of the wife’s property—Forms of divorce—Grounds for divorce—Custody
of children—No damages against the co-respondent—Breaches of
promise of marriage—Few mercenary marriages—Widow-hunting also rare.

—_Page 208._

CHAPTER XVII.

Children.

Child-life—Love of children—Desire for
them—Child-birth—After-birth—Early days—The baby’s food—The
“first-eating”—Superstitions connected with infancy—Carrying of
babies—Teething—Visits to the local shrine—Toddling—Weaning—The
kindergarten and primary school—The girls’ high school—The middle
school—The popularity of middle schools—Hitting—Exercises and
diversions—Collections.

—_Page 219._

CHAPTER XVIII.

Funeral.

Unlucky ages—The Japanese cycle—Celebration of ages—Respect for old
age—Death—Preparations for the funeral—The wake—The coffin and
bier—The funeral procession—The funeral service—Cremation—Gathering
the bones—The grave—Prayers for the dead—Return presents—Memorial
services—The Shinto funeral.

—_Page 235._

CHAPTER XIX.

Accomplishments.

Composition—The writing-table—Odes—Songs—The _haiku_—Chinese
poetry—Tea-ceremony—Its complexity—Its utility to women—The flower
arrangement—The underlying idea—Its extensive application—The
principle of the arrangement—Manipulation of the stalks—Drawing
water—Vases—Tray-landscapes—The _koto_—The _samisen_—Its form—Its
scale—How to play it—The crudity of Japanese music—Its unemotional
character.

—_Page 252._

CHAPTER XX.

Public Amusements.

Pleasures—_No_-performance—Playgoing—The theatre—Japanese
dramas—_Gidayu_-plays—Actors—A new school of
actors—Actresses—Wrestling—Wrestlers—The wrestling booth—The
wrestler’s apparel—The Ekoin matches—The umpire—The rules
of the ring—The match-days—The story-tellers’ hall—Entertainment
at the hall.

—_Page 269._

CHAPTER XXI.

Feasts and Festivities.

Festivities in the old days—The New Year’s Day—The
New Year’s dreams—January—February—The Feast of Dolls—The
Equinoctial day—Plum-blossoms—Cherry-blossoms—The flower
season—Peach-blossoms—Tree-peonies and wistarias—The Feast of
Flags—The Fête of the Yasukuni Shrine—Other fêtes—The Feasts of
Tanabata and Lanterns—The river season—Moon-viewing—The Seven Herbs
of Autumn—October—The Emperor’s Birthday—Chrysanthemums and
maple-leaves—The end of the year.

_Page 287._