“DO you know what I have been thinking about, Archie? There now, you shake your head and don't even try to guess, so I shall have to tell you.
“Not more than thirty years ago, all, or almost all, that was known about Japan was, that it was a large country very thickly peopled. During the past few years many travelers have visited it, and some who love children have taken great notice of them and their amusements. We now know many interesting things about child-life in Japan.
“I think Japanese children have a great many toys. Very large fairs are often held in Japan, and I have no doubt that the boys and girls, who accompany their parents, think the toy-stalls the most interesting part of all; and even those who have been left at home know they will not be forgotten, but receive, on the return of father and mother, some pretty or useful present, and often try to make the waiting time pass more quickly by telling each other what plaything they would choose if allowed so to do.
“But among so many toys, choice must be rather difficult. Kites of light, thin paper, and often made so cleverly as to look, when flying, almost like real birds, are to be had in plenty. The boys, when playing with kites, often sing,
‘Blow wind, blow,
That my kite may go.'
But the girls, who are very fond of playing at shuttlecock, sing a song wishing it may be calm.
“Kite-flying and shuttlecock-playing are winter pastimes, the summer in Japan is so hot that even the children are glad to keep as cool as possible. The boys often play a game something like drafts, called ‘go.' It is played with small pieces of black and white wood or bone, but as three hundred and sixty of these are used in the game I think it must be rather a long one. Fishing, too, takes up a great deal of time, and even small boys are often seen with hook and line, sitting by the side of a stream, and waiting patiently for hours at a time in the hope of catching a trout or young carp.
“There are many curious and beautiful insects in Japan, and the children think it great fun to catch, and I am sorry to add, to tease and often to kill them. ‘Cruel,' you say, Archie? Yes, it is, but we must remember that the children of Japan have never been taught that it is wrong to give needless pain to any of God's creatures, and great numbers of them have never even heard how the Lord Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' (Matt. 5:77Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7).)
“Birds, too, are often caught by boys, who go into the woods carrying long bamboo canes, the ends of which are covered with a kind of wax, so soft and sticky, that the moment the poor little bird touches it, it becomes a prisoner.
“Tiny wagons are often made of colored paper, to which beetles are fastened in such a way that they cannot move without drawing the wagons after them.
“Young and old alike find pleasure in listening to story tellers. Men and women go about the streets, sometimes beating on a small drum, and when a number of children have collected, the story teller begins his or her recital.
“The kind of stories Japanese boys and girls like best are those about ghosts, fairies, dwarfs, and giants.
“If they knew the sweet Bible stories English children love so well, I think they would soon like them better than the foolish and untrue tales in which they often seem so much interested.
“When the story is ended, the teller of it receives a few small coins from the children or their friends.
“The children of Japan are, as a rule, treated very kindly by their parents, who, though they do not spoil their little ones, often pet and indulge them a good deal. A Japanese father may often be seen taking his children for a walk, and, unlike the fathers of India and China, will play with and take notice of his little girls.
“Rice dough made into the form of rabbits, birds, and many other shapes, is much liked by the Japanese, and often bought by the children, as it is good to eat as well as pretty to look at.
“But you must not think of boy-life in Japan as one long holiday, without any lessons to learn or work to do. Perhaps you will think schoolboys in Japan have anything but an easy time of it when I tell you that all schools in Japan begin at seven o'clock in the morning and go on till four or five in the afternoon. If we were to peep into a Japanese school, I expect we should think the order anything but good, and wonder why the master allowed so much talking.
“But he would tell us his scholars were not talking, they were only learning their lessons, and it was only when the sound of so many voices grew faint and low he feared they were idle. Lessons in the schools of Japan, like those of China, are learned by being read over and over again in a very loud voice. When a boy thinks he knows his lesson, he goes to the master, and, turning his back, begins to recite.
“School, too, is held seven days in the week, and there are no Christmas or Midsummer holidays.”
“Oh, Elsie, I am glad I am not likely to be sent to school in Japan. But I should like to know something about the houses in which the Japanese live.”
“As I have never seen a Japanese house, except in a picture, I am afraid I cannot describe one very well. But as I thought a model of a Japanese room one of the most interesting objects in an exhibition I once visited, I will try to tell you what it was like. Bamboo canes formed a kind of light framework for the walls, on which canvas was stretched, prettily ornamented with paintings of storks, flowers, fish, &c. The windows were made by leaving spaces in the canvas, covered by oiled silk or paper.
“There was very little furniture in the room. Straw mats, some of them bright in color, covered the floor. A vase of flowers, placed upon a small stand or table made of bamboo, stood in one corner of the room. And I think I counted four or five birdcages. There were no chairs, but in one part of the room the floor was raised slightly, and on this were seated wax figures of a Japanese lady and her baby. The mother wore a long loose robe of Japanese silk with very wide sleeves, made like a dressing-gown; flowers were in the hair, and a string of coral beads round her neck.
“But I want to show you some things I think you have quite forgotten, as you did not include them in your list of our Japanese possessions.”
And as Elsie spoke, she took two small objects from a cabinet, and placed them on the table near her brother.
“Oh, Elsie, I remember now those are the idols Uncle Howard brought from Japan. How strange it seems, and how sad, too, that people should really pray to and worship idols. I think even children might understand how useless and helpless they are. But what are you looking for in your Bible?”
“I was thinking of some words in the book of Jeremiah, in which we get a remarkable description of idols and their makers. Shall I read them to you?
“'Thus said the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, for the customs of the people are vain. One cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.' (Jer. 10:2-52Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. (Jeremiah 10:2‑5).)
“There are a few bright spots amid the darkness of Japan, with its thousands of idol worshippers, for, through the blessing of the Lord on the labors of devoted christian missionaries and school teachers, some Japanese have been truly ‘turned from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven.' (1 Thess. 1:9, 109For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9‑10))
“In the mission schools, a few out of the many little ones of Japan hear, in their own language, of the Lord Jesus and His love to children; and though we may be sure that the servants of the Lord in Japan meet with many trials of faith and patience, we know their labor will not be in vain in the Lord. For He has said of His word, It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please; and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.' (Isa. 55:1111So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11))
“The Japanese are a very industrious people, many kinds of work, for which we employ a horse, such as drawing carriages, carrying goods to market, &c., are performed by the men and boys of Japan. A Japanese porter generally wears a hat made of palm leaves, quite large enough for an umbrella, and in shape something like one. A long pole rests upon his shoulder, to the ends of which the packages he has to carry are fastened. But we must not talk any more now, and I see you are going to have a visitor. Your young friend, Willie Flowers, is coming up the garden path.”