t.

THE GAMES AND SPORTS OF JAPANESE CHILDREN[21]

How often in Japan one sees that the children of a larger growth enjoy
with equal zest games which are the same, or nearly the same, as those
of lesser size and fewer years! 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 Oriental, 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.

[21] From the paper read before The Asiatic Society of Japan.

[Illustration: Hoisting the Rice-beer Keg On Festival-day.]

A very noticeable change has passed over the Japanese people since the
modern advent of foreigners in respect to their love of amusement. 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 now are rarely seen. Formerly the holidays were
almost as numerous as saints' days in the calendar. 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 arithmetic was being
continually done. We do not know of any country in the world in which
there are so many toy-shops or so many fairs for the sale of things
which delight children. Not only are the streets of every city
abundantly supplied with shops, filled as full as a Christmas stocking
with gaudy toys, but in small towns and villages one or more children's
bazaars may be found. The most gorgeous display of all things pleasing
to the eye of a Japanese child is found in the courts or streets leading
to celebrated temples. On a festival day, the toy-sellers and itinerant
showmen throng with their most attractive wares or sights in front of
the shrine or temple. On the walls and in conspicuous places near the
churches and cathedrals in Europe and America, the visitor is usually
regaled with the sight of undertaker