higher
atmosphere; but as far as she goes, in regard to all the little things
of daily life, she is bright, industrious, sweet-tempered, and
attractive, and prepared to do well her duty, when that duty comes to
her, as wife and mother and mistress of a household. The highest
principle upon which she is taught to act is obedience, even to the
point of violating all her finest feminine instincts, at the command of
father or husband; and acting under that principle, she is capable of an
entire self-abnegation such as few women of any race can achieve.

With the close of her childhood, the happiest period in the life of a
Japanese woman closes. The discipline that she has received so far,
repressive and constant as it has often been, has been from kind and
loving parents. She has freedom, to a certain degree, such as is unknown
to any other country in Asia. In the home she is truly loved, often the
pet and plaything of the household, though not receiving the caresses
and words of endearment that children in America expect as a right, for
love in Japan is undemonstrative.[7] But just at the time when her mind
broadens, and the desire for knowledge and self-improvement develops,
the restraints and checks upon her become more severe. Her sphere seems
to grow narrower, difficulties one by one increase, and the young girl,
who sees life before her as something broad and expansive, who looks to
the future with expectant joy, may become, in a few years, the weary,
disheartened woman.

[7] Kisses are unknown, and regarded by conservative Japanese as an
animal and disgusting way of expressing affection.

CHAPTER II.

EDUCATION.

So far we have spoken only of the domestic training of a Japanese girl.
That part of her education that she gains through teachers and schools
must be the subject of a separate chapter. Japan differs from most
Oriental countries in the fact that her women are considered worthy of a
certain amount of the culture that comes from the study of books; and
although, until recently, schools for girls were unknown in the empire,
nevertheless every woman, except those of the lower classes, received
instruction in the ordinary written language, while some were well
versed in the Chinese classics and the poetic art. These, with some
musical accomplishment, an acquaintance with etiquette and the arts of
arranging flowers, of making the ceremonial tea, and in many cases not
only of writing a beautiful hand,