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MISS WISTARIA AT HOME 
 
MISS WISTARIA 
 
Miss Wistaria at Home 
 
 A Tale of Modern Japan 
 
 BY 
 
 MARGARET LANCASTER STRING 
 
 BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 
 
 REFORMED CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 FIFTEENTH AND RACE STREETS 
 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 
 

 ^ £\ 
 
 Copyright. 1918 
 
 BY 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions 
 Reformed Church in the United States 
 
 APR -4 1918 
 
 PRESS OF BERGER BROS. 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 ©CI.A492804 
 
 <^ln^> 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 MISS WISTARIA AT HOME 
 
 In this little book the author has made no attempt to 
 give the history or geography of Japan; her effort was to 
 write a simple little story of the Japan our missionaries know. 
 She has written a book for Juniors to read, and has tried to 
 weave in it the work the Reformed Church in the United 
 States is doing in Japan. The story is true, as far as the 
 incidents in the story are concerned, but the names are not 
 real, and of course all these incidents did not happen in the 
 life of any one person. It will be interesting to read, know- 
 ing that everything has really happened, not to Miss Wis- 
 taria, but to some one known to our missionaries. 
 
 The author is indebted to many books in the Public 
 Library of Cleveland for sources of information, and is es- 
 pecially indebted to Mrs. W. E. Hoy, Mrs. D. B. Schneder 
 and Rev. Christopher Noss, D.D., for stories and incidents, 
 and to Mr. John H. Poorman, Secretary of the Mission 
 Study Department, for pictures and helps. 
 
WOULD YOU? 
 
 Would you like to be a Japanese, 
 
 And wear a kimono? 
 And wear a gay red obi sash, 
 
 All bunched up in a bow? 
 Would .you like a paper parasol, 
 
 An oily one, you know, 
 And scrape along on wooden clogs, 
 
 Wherever you should go? 
 
 Would you like to be a Japanese 
 
 And sit upon the floor, 
 And have your food on little trays, 
 
 When father's meal is o'er? 
 And would you to the temples go, 
 
 With fierce gods at the door, 
 And humbly make your offering, 
 
 Though your heart with fear was sore? 
 
 Oh, no! American! I think 
 
 You'd rather be, by far, 
 A happy, care-free, helpful child, 
 
 The very kind you are! 
 Then thank God for the blessings 
 
 That He has given thee, 
 And send the knowledge of His love 
 
 To the children across the sea. 
 
 —Mrs. Maude W. Madden. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction ix 
 
 Would You?' xi 
 
 Chapter I. A Maid of Modern Japan 1 
 
 Chapter II. Naming Baby 9 
 
 Chapter III. At Play 21 
 
 Chapter IV. School Days 33 
 
 Chapter V. At Worship 45 
 
 Chapter VI. My Work as a Bible Woman 55 
 
 Chapter VII. My Marriage 67 
 
 Glossary 79 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1. Miss Wistaria Frontispiece 
 
 2. Japanese Flag and The Stars and Stripes 2 
 
 3. Fujiyama 5 
 
 4. Bay of Matstjshima 8 
 
 5. Wading Through the Snow 10 
 
 6. Nurses Carrying Babies 16 
 
 7. Two Ways of Travel 18 
 
 8. Doll Festival 26 
 
 9. Boys' Festival 28 
 
 10. Japanese Characters 34 
 
 11. Jinrikisha 40 
 
 12. Class Room 43 
 
 13. Torii 46 
 
 14. Fudo, The Healer Shrine 47 
 
 15. Pagoda 49 
 
 16. Y. W. C. A. Summer Conference 52 
 
 17. Bible Woman 54 
 
 18. Sunday School 58 
 
 19. Playing With Her Doll 64 
 
 20. Kindergarten 74 
 
 21. New Baby 77 
 
MISS WISTARIA AT HOME 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MISS WISTARIA, A MAID OF MODERN JAPAN 
 
 Good morning, Junior boys and girls, I have been asked 
 to tell you all about my life in far-away Japan. I wonder 
 just what you want to know about me. The first thing I 
 can remember is my home. It was a one-story wooden 
 house, much like all the other houses on our street, covered 
 with a shingled roof. The partitions, dividing room from 
 room, were of paper and could easily be removed. In our 
 outer walls were sliding panels which were left open most 
 of the time. 
 
 In this way we had plenty of fresh air and sunshine, 
 but very little privacy. We had great shutters which could 
 be used when needed. 
 
 They were used mostly at night, and I believe I remem- 
 
 1 
 
MISS WISTARIA 
 
 ber more about the nights, than the days, in my early life. 
 It was always my delight when O Ka San (mother) placed 
 me on my warm thick roll on the floor. This roll, you know, 
 was my bed, which had been taken from the closet in the 
 wall and spread out for me to sleep on, to have my dear 
 old O Ba San (grandmother) tell me stories until I fell 
 asleep. The stories I enjoyed most were about my own dear 
 country and its beautiful flag. Japan is called the "Sunrise 
 Country," and our flag is a great red sun on a white field. 
 
 
 rgfi 
 
 J 
 
 
 THE JAPANESE FLAG AND THE STARS AND STRIPES 
 
 O Ba San told me Japan received this name because the 
 Sun God would drop to sleep every night in the waters round 
 about our Islands, and upon awakening the next morning 
 would shed his light on our country first of all. I liked 
 
A MAID OF MODERN JAPAN 
 
 to hear her tell me the story about how Japan came into 
 existence. 
 
 In the early days of Izanagi and Izanami, the first man 
 and woman of Japan, the gods told them to consolidate and 
 produce the earth, at the same time handing them a jewelled 
 spear. 
 
 Standing on the bridge of heaven, they stirred and 
 stirred the mass, that was intended for the earth, until it 
 came together and was thoroughly mixed, then drawing their 
 spear from this briny mixture, they found some drops drop- 
 ping from this wonderful spear. These drops hardened and 
 thus all the islands of Japan were formed. 
 
 Ba San also told me our Mikado (Emperor) was a 
 descendant from the Sun Goddess, and he was a great war- 
 rior, conquering all who opposed him. As a reward he was 
 made Emperor of Japan. 
 
 1 know now these tales were only legends and that very 
 likely our name "Japan" came from China, from their word 
 "Jip-pun," which means the place the Sun comes from. 
 
 Our four thousand islands were made possibly by some 
 volcanic eruptions, the same as any other islands. 
 
 Most of the islands are small, resting green and beauti- 
 ful upon the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, about six 
 
MISS WISTARIA 
 
 thousand miles west of the United States. We are your 
 nearest neighbors to the west. Japan, a string of islands, is 
 like a great dragon in shape. Think of the island of Yezo 
 as its head and its tail reaching as far south as Formosa. 
 The dragon seems to be sunning itself along the entire 
 eastern coast of Asia. 
 
 The four great islands which compose the mainland, 
 Yezo, Nippon, Shikoku and Kyushu, taken together, would 
 about equal California in area. 
 
 Nippon is separated from Shikoku and Kyushu by the 
 lovely Inland Sea. Here are bays, inlets, waterfalls and 
 lakes with water clear as crystal, reflecting in their depths 
 the great mountain peaks. This Inland Sea earns for my 
 country the name of "Japan the Beautiful." 
 
 The country is mountainous and has many volcanoes, 
 some of which are still active. We have many fine harbors, 
 and fishing is a great industry. Most of our people are 
 farmers, raising rice, wheat, tea and tobacco. Potatoes are 
 raised in large quantities, while other vegetables and fruits 
 abound. I love my beautiful country and you would love 
 it, too, if you could visit with me our sacred mountain 
 Fujiyama. 
 
 The mountain seems to rise out of the waters of the 
 
A MAID OF MODERN JAPAN 
 
6 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 Pacific Ocean for more than twelve thousand feet. It is a 
 sacred place to all Japanese, and every summer thousands 
 of pilgrims wend their weary way to its summit for healing 
 of body and mind. 
 
 A little legend tells us the gods caused this great 
 mountain to appear over night and have made it their home 
 ever since. 
 
 In the olden times when we failed to understand a thing, 
 we just explained it by saying the gods planned it, so no 
 doubt this is why this story about Fuji gained credence. 
 The mountain top is always snow-crowned, and because of 
 its great height it can be seen from thirteen provinces. 
 
 The next time you look at a Japanese fan, tray, screen 
 or painting, look for this sacred Fuji. We never tire of 
 painting it. At sunset the mountains seem to be ever chang- 
 ing from rose and violet to the deep purple of evening. 
 
 The glorious sunrise changes them again from a purple 
 haze to the lilac and pink of morning splendor. 
 
 We very often have earthquakes and I don't like them 
 at all. When I was quite a little girl we had an earthquake 
 that shook our frail house, knocking the lamps from the 
 shelves and setting the house on fire. 
 
 Our neighbors came and soon tore the house down. We 
 
A MAID OF MODERN JAPAN 
 
 had no fire engine in our city then. No one was hurt and 
 our friends kindly sheltered us in their homes until our house 
 was rebuilt, and ever since then I am afraid of earthquakes. 
 
 Our home is in the city of Sendai, just a few miles from 
 the coast in Miyagi province in Northeastern Japan. 
 
 Shiogama, the seaport, is really the gateway to Sendai. 
 Nearby is the beautiful Bay of Matsushima, quite as beauti- 
 ful, although not so well known as the Inland Sea of the 
 South. Travelers rarely come as far North as Sendai. 
 Matsushima means Pine Islands, and takes its name from the 
 hundreds of curious islands which the sea has carved from 
 the soft yellow rock. Each island is covered with pine trees. 
 
 The Hirose River leaves its mountain bed at Sendai 
 and half encircles the city as it begins its course through 
 the fertile plain of the Miyagi province, never stopping until 
 it reaches the ocean beyond. 
 
 From the high bluffs on the west of Sendai you will get 
 but a mere glimpse of the low houses and narrow streets, 
 for the city is full of trees. Our city is the home of one 
 hundred thousand people. 
 
8 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 NAMING BABY 
 
 If I am to tell you my story I really should begin with 
 my birth, and tell you all my O Ka San (mother) used to 
 tell me about the things that happened while I was too young 
 to understand them. 
 
 Our family name was "Yoshida." Now, all Japanese 
 names mean something, and our name meant "good field." 
 One day in February neighbors came wading through the 
 snow on their "geta" (wooden shoes), passing through our 
 little gateway and along the row of stepping-stones to our 
 tiny porch. Instead of knocking or pushing the button of 
 an electric bell, each visitor called, "Excuse me, please!" 
 
 At that the sliding door opened, disclosing my O Ba San 
 (grandmother) seated on the floor and bowing until her head 
 touched the mat. Greetings were exchanged and the ques- 
 tion asked which meant, "Is it a boy or a girl?" Of course 
 they referred to me, the very new baby. With an air of 
 apology grandmother answered, "A girl." All the joy in 
 our neighbors' faces was changed to sadness and they tried 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 WADIXG THROUGH THE SNOW 
 
NAMING BABY 11 
 
 to comfort my family by saying, "Perhaps the gods will be 
 more gracious to you the next time and send you a boy." 
 Some of the visitors would then slip off their shoes, for you 
 know the shoes in Japan are always left outdoors ; straw san- 
 dals or a simple "tabi" (stocking) made of cotton cloth and 
 very much resembling our mittens are worn in the house. 
 And then they would enter our little parlor. 
 
 This room is bare of all furniture except the grass mats, 
 a few cushions, and a picture roll hanging in a recessed place 
 of honor. Our visitors, as is our custom, would sit on one 
 of the mats while we draw a little table before them and serve 
 them with tea and rice cakes. While they drink the tea, 
 making just as much noise with their mouths as possible 
 (this is to show how good they consider the tea), they 
 would continue to express their regrets because the baby 
 was a girl rather than a boy. 
 
 However, O Totsu San (father) and O Ka San 
 (mother) did not feel half as badly as they imagined. They 
 took a real interest in me. Of course they would have 
 believed it very bad luck if I had been the first baby, but I 
 was number two, and Taro San (eldest son) had brought 
 them great happiness and the favor of the gods only two 
 years before. 
 
12 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 Mother was in a room just next to our garden; the 
 drooping wistaria vines almost seemed to be growing in the 
 room itself. It was a pretty room, with its bed on the floor, 
 and the tea kettle singing over a little charcoal fire box. 
 The only furniture was a great chest of drawers built into 
 the room. This chest, with its red-lacquered front, added 
 a touch of color and made the little baby dressed in a bril- 
 liant yellow and scarlet kimono look very gay indeed. 
 
 On the top of this chest stood the ancestral tablets. 
 They were wooden tablets inscribed with the name of a 
 dead relative. With them stood a row of ugly images, you 
 would say, but they were our gods. This was our "Kami- 
 dana" (god-shelf) and to these gods we looked for protec- 
 tion and help. We expected them to keep away sickness, 
 death, fire and any other calamity that might touch our 
 dwelling. 
 
 O Totsu San planted a little tree called "kiri" for me 
 the day I was born. Many of our people do this, with the 
 idea that the tree will grow large enough . to furnish the 
 wood for the bureau when their daughter is married. I think 
 this would depend on how early or late in life she became 
 a bride, don't you? When I was seven days old I received 
 my name. The name Fuji, meaning wistaria, was selected, 
 
NAMING BABY 13 
 
 possibly because it is a Japanese custom to name girls after 
 flowers, and mother no doubt thought of the graceful, beau- 
 tiful vine in our garden, with a wish that her daughter should 
 grow up equally graceful and beautiful. 
 
 The name was written on a slip of paper and with great 
 ceremony presented to the row of gods and ancestral tab- 
 lets on the god-shelf, thus announcing to the departed spirits 
 the arrival of a new member of the family. On another slip 
 of paper was written this notice: "To Mr. Yoshida was born 
 a daughter, Fuji." This notice was posted in our parlor, 
 where anyone who happened to come in might see it. 
 
 Of course my family would call me Fuji, or perhaps 
 Nei San (sister) , but everyone else must call me O Fuji San 
 (honorable Miss Fuji), as San after a name means either 
 Mister, Mrs. or Miss. During the next fourteen days I 
 did nothing but eat and sleep and take my bath like all babies. 
 Did I say take my bath like all babies? Well! I hardly 
 meant that, for babies in Japan have a hard time getting used 
 to a bath. What would you do if your grandmother would 
 bring in a great wash tub about half-full of almost boiling 
 water, and rolling you in a white cloth, drop you in this 
 fearfully hot water to soak? Well! I just screamed as loudly 
 as I could, and I guess you would have done the same. 
 
14 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 After I was lifted out grandmother rubbed me with a 
 dry cloth and a little oil and fastened a gay kimono around 
 me. 
 
 My little kimonos were all so gay. The ground of scar- 
 let, purple or yellow would be covered with large poppies, 
 chrysanthemums, plum or cherry blossoms, or a wistaria 
 bloom. Doubtless they were the gifts of our friends, for at 
 the birth of a child the callers either bring a kimono for the 
 baby to wear or a fish for the mother to eat. 
 
 The subject of clothes in Japan is a very simple one, 
 as the whole family dresses alike and the styles never 
 change. 
 
 The difference between boys' and girls' clothing is 
 largely one of color. Men and boys wear kimonos of dull 
 colors and a narrow belt, while women and girls wear gay 
 and very bright-colored kimonos, with wide "obi" (sash) 
 tied in back. Many of these sashes are five yards long and 
 very heavy to wear. 
 
 My twenty-first day was a feast day. Mother was con- 
 sidered well again and able to return to the family duties, 
 so our friends and relatives celebrated by eating a big din- 
 ner at our house. The main course was rice cooked with 
 red beans. After the meal small portions of this rice in 
 
NAMING BABY 15 
 
 red-lacquered boxes were sent to all the friends who had 
 sent me a gift. 
 
 My next great day was the thirty-third day. I was 
 dressed in my. gayest kimono, a purple ground with large 
 scarlet peonies on it, tied to the back of a little nurse girl, 
 another kimono was wound around me, and mother, grand- 
 mother, nurse and I wended our way to the Temple. 
 
 Mother carried a bag of rice and as we crossed over the 
 little bridge leading to the temple, mother threw rice into 
 the stream, hoping thus to secure the good-will of the gods. 
 
 Arriving at the temple, the women slipped off their 
 shoes and climbed the steps to the temple door. Here they 
 clapped their hands and rang a great bell to awaken the gods 
 who might be sleeping. Grandmother presented me with 
 due ceremony to the gods, after dropping her money in the 
 contribution box, announcing loudly that the temple had 
 now gained another worshipper. Before leaving, both 
 mother and grandmother bowed down to the ground and 
 begged the gods to be good to me and guard me from all 
 evil spirits. They arose assured of an answer to their 
 prayers. 
 
 They did want me to have everything that made for 
 
16 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
NAMING BABY 17 
 
 happiness, and they knew no other god who would listen 
 to their prayers. . 
 
 The days passed rapidly and I was one hundred days 
 old and received my first meal. At least that is what mother 
 called it, but somehow after I heard all about it I began to 
 think O Ba San and not the baby received the first meal. 
 
 A feast of rice and red beans was again prepared and 
 the oldest member of our family, grandmother, took me on 
 her lap, and taking a little ball of rice in her chop-sticks, 
 placed it in my mouth for a second, after which she would 
 withdraw it and proceed to eat it herself. This is known 
 as baby's first meal. After my "first meal," much of my 
 time was spent on the back of a nurse-maid, a mere child 
 herself. Mothers and children carry babies strapped on 
 their backs almost all day long. 
 
 Anywhere women can be seen with babies on their backs, 
 swaying to and fro to soothe the babies, while chatting with 
 neighbors, shopping, etc. Little girls carry babies to school 
 or romp and play, while babies either laugh, cry or sleep on 
 their backs. 
 
 Our babies are the best babies in the world, or they 
 never would be so good-natured under such treatment. 
 
18 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 It is said that Japan- 
 ese babies never cry, 
 but I guess we do our 
 share. But, really, we 
 have less to cry about 
 than other babies. We 
 have no furniture in 
 our houses to keep 
 away from; we are 
 never housed up in dark 
 rooms, and we can even 
 play in the street with- 
 out danger from auto- 
 mobiles. So, why should 
 we cry? 
 
 During my first six 
 two ways of travel yea rs I learned to play 
 
 with dolls and to carry them on my back as mother carried 
 me. I learned to sit properly on the floor with my feet 
 crossed under me ; I learned how to greet my father and any 
 friends with a polite bow, putting my hands together in a 
 heart shape on the floor and bowing until my head almost 
 touched mv hands. I also learned to bow much lower to men 
 
NAMING BABY 19 
 
 than to women. I learned to obey my grandparents, father 
 and Ani San (elder brother), and to place a daily offering 
 on the god-shelf. This offering was often a portion of my 
 food. 
 
 Every day I was taught to worship my ancestors, and 
 during these early years one more tablet was placed on the 
 shelf, for O Ji San (grandfather) died. So a new name 
 was inscribed for him and I had a new tablet to remember 
 and worship. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 AT PLAY 
 
 The children of Japan just love to play. They have so 
 many games just like the games you play, only we call them 
 by other names. 
 
 All our boys enjoy playing with tops and balls; oh, how 
 they can spin tops. It seems very easy for them to keep 
 three spinning at the same time. Then the balls, too; they 
 rarely use just one — they endeavor to have several in the 
 air at a time. The girls play a game called "Bounce the 
 Ball." The ball is dashed upon the ground so it will bounce, 
 while the girl must turn clear around and be ready to strike 
 the ball again on the rebound. She should do this at least 
 five times without missing. Try it some time; it is lots of 
 fun for the girl, but hard on the baby strapped on her back. 
 
 "Battledore and Shuttlecock" is another game all the 
 girls play. A new battledore is always expected as a New 
 Year's gift, much as your children expect a new doll at 
 Christmas. We are all very fond of candy. While at play 
 we eat candy that is made from chestnuts and barley sugar. 
 
 21 
 
22 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 It is made in large slabs about one inch thick, much like 
 your taffy. We not only buy it along the street, but we can 
 buy cakes and even make them on our streets. 
 
 Did you ever see a cooking-stove man on your streets? 
 One day while I was playing I heard the bell and I knew 
 it was the cooking-stove man. 
 
 He carries a real kitchen with him; the stove is a little 
 charcoal burner and oven, and besides he has all the utensils 
 used in cooking or baking a cake. All the children follow 
 him. Making, baking and eating your cake is such fun that 
 even boys purchase from him. 
 
 We give him a coin and he gives us some dough accord- 
 ing to the size of the coin. We shape it; the boys almost 
 always make a fish, while the girls try to make flowers, and 
 putting it in the tiny oven bake it brown. I remember one 
 day I had a coin and gave it to him, but I told him I wanted 
 to make my own cake, so he gave me a cup, spoon and tiny 
 bowl and all the things for a cake. Oh! how I did mix and 
 stir, and finally rolled it out on the little board, carefully 
 shaping a plum blossom. I then slipped it into the oven and 
 waited so anxiously for it to bake. It was my first lesson 
 in baking. 
 
 The dav before our New Year's festival these men come 
 
AT PLAY 23 
 
 around and help our families to prepare little cakes of rice 
 to use on these holidays. 
 
 These men are really called "O Mochi" men. They boil 
 the water, steam and pound the rice, keeping their mallets 
 going to the rhythm of the song they sing. 
 
 Mothers and grandmothers then take the pounded rice 
 and shape it into little cakes to bake. When I was little 
 I just loved to help shape these tiny cakes. Some of them 
 we used on the "Kamidana" (god-shelf), placing them in 
 a little pyramid on the "Toko" (place of honor). 
 
 The day before New Year's is a busy day. While the 
 girls and women are busy in the kitchen, at the front of the 
 house Ani San (elder brother) and O Totsu San (father) 
 are planting a tree. Every family erects two little trees. 
 They are either pine or bamboo. The poorer people set up 
 at least a twig. We erected a pine tree because our father 
 told us our ancestors always carried a pine tree with them 
 into battle, and it helped them to win, so of course we like 
 the pine tree best. Our trees were placed one on each side 
 of the doorway, with a straw rope connecting the two, mak- 
 ing it look like an arch. On this arch was placed a fern, 
 with lots of leaves and a red lobster. I'm sure you want 
 to know what all this means, don't you? Our pine tree stands 
 
24 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 for courage and ability to endure, the red lobster means long 
 life. Hanging over the door it says: "May the folks in here 
 live till their backs are bent double and their beards reach 
 to their knees, like the feelers on this lobster." 
 
 The fern, with its many leaves, means many children. 
 Over all this decoration we place the two flags of the Rising 
 Sun. But I almost hear you say, "What about that straw 
 rope?" A little legend tells us that one time the winter had 
 been so long the people thought the Sun Goddess had fallen 
 asleep in her cave, so they went to the cave and made loud 
 noises beating drums. Finally the Goddess came out to see 
 what all the racket meant, and the men slyly stepped behind 
 her and stretched a straw rope across the mouth of the cave, 
 so she could not go in again. So some people say we put 
 up that straw rope to help us remember the Sun Goddess 
 and all she does for us, but I believe the real reason is because 
 a rope is used in our Shinto shrines to mark off the clean 
 interior from the common outer world, and we use it to show 
 that we want nothing unclean nor unlucky to come in our 
 house all this New Year. I think if you would put our deco- 
 rations into words it would say: "May every one in this house 
 be strong and well; may the family live to a good old age 
 and have lots of sons ; may nothing unclean or unlucky enter 
 
AT PLAY 25 
 
 this door!" Splendid wishes for a New Year, don't you 
 think? 
 
 When the great holiday arrives we get up very early 
 in the morning. O Totsu San goes to the temple before 
 breakfast. After breakfast we visit all our relatives and 
 friends. It is a day of great rejoicing. The streets are gay 
 with the kites of the boys and the battledores of the girls. 
 Many of these battledores are beautifully embroidered. 
 
 Every boy has a kite, as he carries his own gifts to others, 
 and the girls carry their battledores just as proudly. At 
 each house we visit we receive tea and the little mochi cakes. 
 We eat all we can, but best of all, when we can eat no more, 
 it is quite polite to slip the rest in our great sleeves for use 
 later on. 
 
 This is our first great festival, but I like the second one, 
 the "Feast of Dolls," which comes on the third day of the 
 third month, the very best of all. That's because I am a 
 girl, for Ani San (elder brother) likes the "Feast of Flags," 
 which comes the fifth day of the fifth month, the best. The 
 day before the Doll Festival my dolls were all arranged on 
 shelves, row upon row, such a lot of them. Some had be- 
 longed to mother, grandmother, great grandmother and even 
 great-great grandmother. 
 
26 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 Each year 
 some new dolls 
 are added. I did 
 not have a com- 
 plete set, which 
 included the 
 Emperor, Em- 
 press and all the 
 court ladies and 
 men, with a band 
 of musicians, 
 and these dolls 
 cost lots of 
 money and could 
 never be played 
 with. On this 
 day we dress in 
 our gayest ki- 
 doll festival mono and, after 
 
 placing little cakes before our dolls, we go forth to visit the 
 doll displays of our friends, much as you would look at each 
 other's Christmas trees. At each place we bow, eat cakes 
 and drink tea. Our schools are closed and the whole day 
 
AT PLAY 27 
 
 given to the girls and their dolls. It is interesting to hear 
 the stories of the various dolls, and I never liked night to 
 come, for then our dolls are placed in boxes and put away 
 for another year. 
 
 In April we have the Fete of the Sakura (cherry blos- 
 soms). It is our first picnic. We dress and oil our hair, 
 putting in new hair pins and ornaments. We don our gay 
 kimonos and gayer obi (sashes) and under the shelter of an 
 oiled-paper parasol, accompanied by teachers and parents, 
 we walk to our parks. Passing the temple we drop a coin 
 in the contribution box, clap our hands and bow low before 
 the idol, repeating his name over and over, which is sup- 
 posed to be praying. Then we spend a long, happy day 
 under the cherry trees. Booths are put up in which are sold 
 candy, toys and cherry blossoms; the bands play and the 
 flags wave, while we sit on the ground and eat a lunch of 
 rice cakes or bean paste made in the shape of flowers. 
 
 The "Feast of Flags," the boys' festival, is ushered in 
 by each house placing a tall pole near the front door, from 
 the top of which hang fish made of paper or silk. There are 
 always as many fish as there are boys in the family. Most 
 of the fish are carp. This fish is said to be able to swim 
 
28 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 against the current and even jump up waterfalls, and was 
 selected as a fitting emblem. This mounted carp is saying 
 
 to eve r y boy : 
 "You, too, must 
 overcome many 
 obstacles if you 
 would rise to 
 fame." 
 
 The carp, 
 called "nobori," 
 are often four 
 feet long, and a 
 
 BOYS' FESTIVAL hoop of bamboo 
 
 holds their mouths open, so they float in the air as though 
 alive. 
 
 It is a wonderful sight to see the sky literally filled with 
 fish. Again the shelves are placed up for a display, but in- 
 stead of dolls, the shelves are filled with toys for boys — 
 soldiers, pictures of the Emperor, figures of "Hachiman" 
 (god of war), archery sets, swords and tiny sets of armor 
 with a pine tree on them. A great day for the boys; filled 
 with visiting, eating, target practice and kite flying. 
 
 Athletic contests are indulged in, concluding with a war- 
 
AT PLAY 29 
 
 like contest called "Gem-pei." This is a sham battle staged 
 on two nearby hills; one crowd planting a red flag on their 
 hill, while the other crowd plants a white flag on the opposite 
 hill. The flag of the enemy must be captured and carried 
 away. It is played according to rules. It is a battle royal; 
 the boys are often bound hand and foot while proud fathers 
 watch and urge on the contest. The flag captured, the win- 
 ning side parades the streets of the village and is feasted 
 at the homes of the various boys. 
 
 What boy would not enjoy a holiday such as this? 
 
 Another old festival we used to celebrate is "Tanabata." 
 Many neglect to celebrate this day and it is not considered 
 so important as other holidays. It occurs on the seventh 
 day of the seventh month. The little legend which suggests 
 this celebration deals with the stars and the wonderful "Milky 
 Way," which we call the "Celestial River." We are told the 
 fable of the Weaver and the Herdsman. The Herdsman is 
 a star in Aquila and the Weaver is the star Vega. They are 
 on opposite sides of the "Milky Way," but on July 7 they 
 come together. The story, as we hear it, is as follows : Once 
 upon a time there was a maiden who would weave all the 
 clothes for the gods. She was kept so busy weaving that she 
 had no time to adorn her own person, hence was not beau- 
 
30 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 tiful and no one sought her in marriage. The gods, noting 
 her condition, had compassion on her loneliness. They put 
 it into the heart of a herdsman to marry her. The maiden 
 loved her husband so much she began to neglect her weaving, 
 so the gods separated them, placing them on opposite sides 
 of this "Celestial River," allowing them only one day a year 
 to spend together. This day they are so happy, the gods 
 grant them any favors they may ask. 
 
 So it has become the custom to have the children ask 
 favors of the gods on this day through the Weaver and 
 Herdsman. 
 
 A small bamboo tree is set up at each door, trimmed 
 with gay lanterns and long strips of many-colored papers, 
 each bearing requests for help from the gods. Boys ask that 
 they may be helped in school or be strong and win in "Gem- 
 pei," and the girls want to learn to sew and write well and 
 paint. It is a beautiful sight to see all these lanterns and 
 gay papers swaying in the breeze. The boys use this time as 
 another test of strength. They organize clubs and feast all 
 morning, then in the afternoon, each girded with a branch of 
 bamboo, they go forth to fight other clubs. The fun lasts 
 until dark, when the whole family, with lighted lanterns, 
 walk the streets looking at the oddly decorated trees. The 
 
AT PLAY 31 
 
 following morning the trees and their trimmings are taken 
 to the nearest bridge and thrown into the running water with 
 a prayer that, as the trees pass from sight, our requests may 
 be borne up to the gods, who are so willing to answer prayers 
 on this particular day. 
 
 The last great holiday is the celebration of the Em- 
 peror's Birthday. This is on October 31st, the time of maples 
 and chrysanthemums. Flags and soldiers seem to be every- 
 where. In our capital city, Tokyo, the Emperor reviews his 
 troops ; in our city of Sendai we celebrate in our schools. We 
 sing the national anthem and listen to all the stories about 
 our Mikado, and all the great things he has done. A per- 
 sonal message or rescript from the Emperor is read, and 
 we are reminded that it is the duty of every boy and girl in 
 Japan to loyally serve their Emperor, even giving up life 
 itself when necessary. 
 
 The exercises completed, the rest of the day is a great 
 picnic. Many spend it in visiting the chrysanthemum shows 
 arranged at that time. 
 
 Before the end of November, on the twenty-third of 
 the month, we have a holy day. It is like your Thanksgiving. 
 On that day our Emperor takes the rice just harvested, and 
 tasting it, gives thanks to the gods for a good crop, and then 
 
32 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 he gives it to his people for their food. We do not need to 
 work nor go to school on this day, but we are urged to go 
 to our temples and, taking an offering, to give thanks. My 
 offering was always rice cakes and coins, and I, too, offered 
 a prayer of thanks for food in plenty. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 SCHOOL DAYS 
 
 My days were not all play days and holidays. Many 
 of them were school days and work days. When I was six 
 years old I went to school just as you do in America. 
 
 It was hard for me to go to school at first. I thought 
 everyone would laugh at me, and slowly, oh so slowly, I 
 went, carrying my writing materials, a copy-book, a cake 
 of ink and a pen. My pen was not a steel one like your 
 pens. It was just a very tiny paint-brush and is much harder 
 to use than your style of pen. 
 
 Our schoolroom had white matting on the floor. We 
 left our shoes on the outside of the room, close beside the 
 door, and such a scramble for shoes when school was over. 
 The only furniture seemed to be odd chests of drawers 
 in which our books, pens, ink and soroban were kept. The 
 soroban is our counting machine. It looks like your count- 
 ing boards often found in nurseries and kindergartens. 
 
 We not only learn to count on them, but we become 
 slaves to them, and cannot count without them. 
 
 33 
 
34 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 You will find these counting machines in all our busi- 
 ness houses; in fact, we just can't count without them, and 
 we do use them very rapidly. Arriving at school I made 
 the many bows required, and bowed very low indeed, all the 
 time saying: "Ohayo" (Good morning!) to my teacher. 
 Thus my training began. 
 
 My first lesson was in reading and learning the syl- 
 labary. I was required not to learn twenty-six letters, but 
 three thousand characters. Our language has really ten 
 thousand characters in general use, and we are required to 
 learn at least three thousand in the elementary school; that 
 is, during the first six or eight years of school life. 
 
 ^fc J Our characters are 
 
 *^W^^y £ really little pictures. 
 
 2T( jfe ^f^^^™5^ ^ e draw a picture to 
 
 ^f^ J^^T >^ ^ represent our thought. 
 
 ^^^^ L^ ^_^^^ While reading and 
 
 l^^r writing is very hard to 
 
 ^^^ learn, we think Jap- 
 
 japanese characters anese is beautiful when 
 
 well written, and we all aim to write well. 
 
 Our reading lessons are often dull, much of our read- 
 ing is about how we should behave. There seem to be rules 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 35 
 
 for everything. However, we do enjoy some little stories like 
 your Mother Goose rhymes. We had a funny little rhyme 
 about a cow, and one of our stories is much like your Red 
 Riding Hood. Would you like to hear it? 
 
 "Once upon a time a little girl about seven years old was 
 carrying rice-balls to her father, who had gone to sell toys 
 at a festival several miles away. She ran carelessly along 
 and, missing her path, soon found herself in front of a large 
 bear. She could not run, so she decided to be friendly. The 
 bear growled and growled. She thought of her rice-balls. 
 Taking one in her hand and holding it toward the bear, 
 she said: 'Ojisan, ojisan (uncle, uncle) is this what you 
 want?' The bear took the ball and broke it open, but hesi- 
 tated to eat it and growled again. Then the little girl said : 
 'Ojisan, I would not fool you; there is no poison in it.' So 
 the bear ate up the rice-balls. The little girl then said: 'Oji- 
 san, I'll be going.' In her haste she would have taken the 
 wrong road, but the now friendly bear, to repay her kind- 
 ness, pointed her to the road that led her safely home." 
 
 I guess this story was meant to teach us that kindness 
 pays. 
 
 Our other lessons were in writing, geography, drawing 
 and counting. I believe we all liked our lessons in counting 
 
36 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 the best. To me it seemed like play to push the little balls 
 on our soroban up and down. This counting was a great 
 rest after the long tedious lessons in reading and writing. 
 Much time is spent in training us in morals and manners; 
 we learned what we must do on all occasions. We must 
 always smile no matter how we feel, and we can never be 
 rude, we must always be polite. Our greatest lesson is a 
 lesson of obedience; first to our Emperor, then to our an- 
 cestors, then to our parents and teachers. We learn how to 
 bow properly; also that we must bow much lower to a man 
 than to a woman; that our heads must touch the ground in 
 bowing to royalty. Don't you think our custom of placing 
 our hands in a heart shape and bowing our heads over them 
 is very pretty and suggestive? We seem to be saying: "We 
 give you our hearts as well as our hands in greeting." We 
 are taught to arrange flowers artistically. 
 
 Patriotism is taught in our schools, not by a salute to 
 the flag, but rather by paying respect to the picture of the 
 Emperor. Every school has a picture of the Emperor ; it is 
 kept in a separate room and is the special care of the janitor. 
 Under no circumstance must he permit others to touch it. 
 In case of danger he must care for this picture first. On 
 the Emperor's Birthday it is uncovered and brought into our 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 37 
 
 room, and every child stands with bowed head during the 
 whole exercise. Not a head must be lifted until the picture 
 is safely returned to its own room. One day a fire occurred 
 in one of our schools and the janitor failed to save the 
 Emperor's picture, so he killed himself. He knew, although 
 he had not been at fault, the people would point to him 
 with shame as one who failed to save his Emperor's picture. 
 His friends all felt it was best he killed himself ; they thought 
 that would prove he was brave and had done his best to 
 fulfill his duty. 
 
 Before I had finished my course in the elementary school 
 we heard rumors of a new kind of school. It seemed to be a 
 new force in our city. 
 
 Mr. Oshikawa and a Mr. Yoshida, not my father, had 
 gathered together a little band of followers and they were 
 teaching anew religion. 
 
 The people said they were always together, praying for 
 a leader to help them teach this new religion. Besides this 
 little band there were Rev. E. H. Jones and wife, of the 
 Baptist Church, and Dr. and Mrs. H. W. Schwartz, of the 
 Methodist Church, spending much time telling of a Saviour, 
 who loved us and died for us all, and that He would give 
 eternal life to all who believed on Him. At last the day 
 
38 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 came when Mr. Oshikawa and his band were made happy 
 by having their prayer answered. Rev. W. E. Hoy, of the 
 Reformed Church of the United States, came as their leader. 
 He was not in our city long until he planned to open schools 
 for both boys and girls, and decided to invite all who could 
 not pay to come learn to read and write, hoping in this way 
 to get acquainted and be able to give them the message of 
 God's love. 
 
 The little school grew rapidly because at that time every 
 one was so anxious to learn English and anything American 
 appealed to them. 
 
 Today this is changed, and we are using better judg- 
 ment and we are only trying to learn the things that are 
 suited to our needs. We are trying to find which of these 
 new ideas are really worth while and use only them. Mr. 
 Hoy decided to send for helpers and open a school for girls. 
 I wanted to go to the new school, but my parents were not 
 willing to have me attend. I can remember how excited I 
 was the day O Mura San and O Yuki San, two of my little 
 friends, told me that two lady teachers would arrive in Sendai 
 that day. 
 
 Since then I learned the two lady teachers, Misses Ault 
 and Poorbaugh, were just as excited as I was. Miss Ault 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 39 
 
 often told of the journey from Yokohama to Shiogama by 
 boat, arriving about seven in the evening. 
 
 Mr. Hoy and Dr. and Mrs. Schwartz met them and 
 took them to a Japanese hotel. Everything seemed so queer 
 to them. They were asked to remove their shoes before 
 entering and it seemed strange to be handed cushions, in- 
 stead of chairs, to sit on. 
 
 Their attempts to sit and rise gracefully were laughable. 
 Miss Ault never forgets her first supper. Small trays were 
 placed before them on the floor, and to her it seemed like 
 playing in a doll house. The girls who served were so pretty, 
 neat and clean, and the tray looked so dainty, she was glad 
 to eat. But oh! how awkward she was in using the chop- 
 sticks for the first time. She felt so embarrassed to find 
 most of her soup spilled in her lap. 
 
 The journey to Sendai was made in a jinrikisha, and 
 Miss Ault told us she had the queerest sensation when she got 
 in it. She felt as though she had crawled into a baby car- 
 riage and had a man pulling her along. The ride was rough 
 and novel and really enjoyable, because it was short. 
 
 As they neared the city of Sendai they were met by the 
 little praying band who welcomed them with much joy. I 
 wanted to go to see the strange women because O Mura San 
 
40 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 JIXRIKISHA 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 41 
 
 and O Yuki San were going, but my parents objected. My 
 parents did not belong to the praying band like O Mura 
 San's mother. 
 
 The little party came back to Sendai about midnight 
 and early the next morning I went with my little friends to 
 catch a glimpse of the strange women. 
 
 They were very different from each other, one was tall 
 and the other short, like us. In fact I thought Miss Ault, 
 short and with dark eyes (they were straight, not slanting, 
 like our eyes ) , would look most like us, if she would wear a 
 pretty kimono, instead of a tight-fitting waist and so much 
 draping in her skirt. Her dress seemed so funny ; instead of 
 nice and tight, so she could take little steps, her skirt was so 
 full and her sleeves were tight and no pockets in them at all. 
 Our sleeves are loose and comfortable and the pockets in 
 them are so handy for carrying packages, fan, and the food 
 we cannot eat while at the table. 
 
 All the little girls liked to see the new hats from Amer- 
 ica. We never wear hats, we just oil our hair and brush it 
 until it is glossy and doing it high on our heads, like mother 
 does, we ornament our heads with lots of fancy pins and 
 little fans. We use our oiled paper parasols for either rain 
 or sun, but at present we have many umbrellas that are made 
 
42 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 of cloth or silk. In our country the only hats are worn 
 by the men. The farmer's rain hat is really curious, it looks 
 like a small strawstack mounted on his head and sheds the 
 rain much as a thatched roof on a house. 
 
 These new teachers soon found a suitable house on a 
 street called Nibancho (or the second street). The house 
 was used for a school, too, and O Mura San and O Yuki San 
 were the first students ; but securing students was easy then, 
 for it cost nothing and the girls were glad to come. Soon 
 90 girls were enrolled. The school was so near my home and 
 I, too, wanted to go and learn all the queer American ways. 
 I talked so much about it that my father promised to go to 
 the street meeting and learn from Mr. Hoy just what they 
 were teaching. So on the holiday (Sunday), father went 
 and heard about the "Jesus way." When he returned he 
 said I could go and learn English, but he thought the "Way 
 of the Gods" was good enough for us, and I should not learn 
 this new religion. Later he gave me permission to enter 
 the school. 
 
 On Sunday all our schools are closed, but this new 
 school was held that day, too. The girls said it was different 
 and they had no lessons to learn, just singing anew song 
 and some talking and every girl received a card with a pretty 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 
 
 picture. The school had a baby organ and Miss Poorbaugh 
 could play with both hands. This was wonderful to me, 
 because our Japanese teachers only pick out the tune with 
 one finger. 
 
 I was happy in the new school and the teachers were 
 always kind and pleasant. Our school grew and soon Miss 
 Poorbaugh's sister, Miss Emma, came to help in our work. 
 The teaching of music was given to her and we all enjoyed 
 this part of our work. We were taught Christmas songs — 
 Christmas was to be a new holiday for us. On Christmas 
 morning we came early and sang our carols at the homes 
 of all the Christians in our city. 
 
 Today our 
 G i r 1 s' School, 
 the Miyagi Jo 
 Gakko, has 
 grown to be sec- 
 ond to none in 
 our province, 
 even the Im- 
 peria] Govern- 
 class room ment has rec- 
 
 ognized it as one of the leading schools. Thus it has grown 
 
44 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 from such a small beginning and today, with its many 
 graduates at work throughout the country, and its five 
 American teachers, it is a great influence for good in the 
 Miyagi Province. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 AT WOKSHIP 
 
 At the Miyagi Jo Gakko (Girls' School) I could not 
 help being impressed with the "Jesus religion," as we all 
 called it. Watching O Mura San and others, I felt that 
 they had something that I lacked. 
 
 I attended the school on Sunday and learned to sing 
 with others, "Waga Shu Yesu"; in your language, it would 
 be "Yes, Jesus Loves Me." 
 
 Wa ga shu Yesu 
 Wa ga shu Yesu 
 Wa ga shu Yesu 
 Ware wo aisu. 
 
 I, too, was beginning to feel the love of this Jesus ; but 
 I still went through the forms of my old religions. I was 
 both a Shintoist and a Buddhist. 
 
 There are three so-called religions in Japan. The 
 Shinto, meaning "The Way of the Gods," is the national 
 
 45 
 
46 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 religion and a form of patriotism. We believe our Mikado 
 is a descendant of the gods, so we worship and do honor to 
 him. We add to the Emperor all our great warriors and 
 our ancestors and worship them; we also add all the great 
 forces of nature that we fail to understand and many ani- 
 mals, hence strangers find us worshipping many gods, with 
 our whole Island dotted with shrines and temples. 
 
 Shinto has no 
 wonderful tem- 
 ples,the worship- 
 per approaches 
 through a simple 
 "Torii" (sacred 
 arch) ; this arch 
 is made of two 
 posts and two 
 cross beams, the 
 torii upper one pro- 
 
 jecting at both ends. 
 
 One of our old tales tells us these beams in olden times 
 were perches for the birds, used in worship, at the sacred 
 temple. Another tale tells us the "Golden Crow," a sacred 
 bird, rests on these arches in his flight toward the sun. 
 
AT WORSHIP 
 
 47 
 
 No one really knows just why we have these arches, but 
 today we use them as a place on which to hang our offerings 
 of silk or paper. Many a wayside shrine is gaily decorated 
 in all the colors of the rainbow. 
 
 We have no elaborate services. We worship any time 
 during the day, ringing a bell and clapping our hands to call 
 the god's attention; we drop our coin in the box, say our 
 prayer and our worship is over. Shrines abound everywhere. 
 Christians go to but one church, while we have shrines for 
 different things, so we visit and pray at many places. We 
 
 
 FUDO, THE HEADER SHRINE 
 
48 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 have this shrine to "Fudo the Healer" at Shiogama, where 
 many go when ill. Once a year we go to the children's shrine 
 and offer prayers for health, and that we may be good 
 scholars. 
 
 The hot water shrine is a shrine just for women. In 
 Sendai we have a shrine for men; it was erected to "Hachi- 
 man," the god of war. Crowds gather here on January 14, 
 and bring offerings of "sake," rice liquor. Their worship 
 consists of undressing and pouring cold water over their 
 heads and bodies to cleanse themselves of the sins of the 
 past year; and in praying to "Hachiman" for protection 
 during the new year. In olden times they paraded the 
 streets, but this is now forbidden. The men drink the 
 "sake" the gods cannot drink, and return to their homes 
 quarrelsome and intoxicated. 
 
 The roads through the country are full of nature 
 shrines; you will see the shrine to the "Mountain God," the 
 "Fox God," the "Monkey God," the "Tree God," and 
 travelers drop in their coins and pray at all of these. Even 
 our horses are not forgotten; there is a shrine for horses. 
 Once a year horses are taken to the shrine, the coin is 
 dropped, and clapping our hands to call the god's attention, 
 the horses are made to say their prayers by running round 
 
AT WORSHIP 
 
 49 
 
 and round the shrine. The horses do not know what it all 
 means, but they, and the children round about, enjoy it; 
 while the owners believe these prayers will keep their horses 
 in health for a year. Dr. Noss calls it a sort of lif e insurance. 
 This, then, is Shinto as we see it. Summing it all 
 up, we may say it only pertains to this life. We learn to 
 obey the laws of the state and family, and then follow our 
 own desires. 
 
 Buddhism, however, is very different. It tells us all 
 about a future life. 
 
 Buddhist priests teach we 
 are born into this world many 
 times, sometimes as a human 
 being, or an animal, or a bird, 
 or even an insect; therefore 
 they never kill anything. They 
 teach that it all depends on 
 how you live, and how many 
 prayers you say, whether you 
 will be born next time to a 
 pleasant life or a life of suf- 
 fering. 
 
 pagoda Buddhism has thousands of 
 
 temples and about as many idols as Shinto has shrines. 
 
50 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 The temples are often placed in beautiful gardens full 
 of little ponds containing gold fish and ducks. 
 
 The children are expected to buy, of the priest, food 
 for these sacred animals. While the parents worship before 
 the idol in the temple, the children roam in the gardens, 
 feeding the gold fish or doves, that are supposed to be mes- 
 sengers of the gods. 
 
 The boys enjoy feeding the turtles and deer, and like 
 the capers of the frisky little ponies. The children's god is 
 called "Jizo"; he is represented as sitting with a pile of 
 stones in his lap. It is believed that when little children die 
 they must wander around, ever piling up stones in Jizo's lap 
 for prayers. Wicked demons scare the children and throw 
 down their stones, and then they must begin to pile the 
 stones over again. 
 
 Children are taken to the temple to be christened, and 
 also in cases of sickness. Some idols are thought to have 
 special power in healing the sick. It is the custom to rub 
 the afflicted part of the body on the same part of the idol, 
 hence many idols are minus hands or legs or ears, or have 
 their whole face caved in because so many had tooth-ache or 
 ear-ache, etc. A coin must always be given the priest before 
 you can go near the idol. 
 
AT WORSHIP 51 
 
 The Japanese seem to do as St. Paul commands, "Pray 
 without ceasing" ; everywhere there is a call to prayer. 
 
 They have invented many curious ways of praying, for 
 instance, we may write our prayer on a slip of paper, chew 
 it into a little ball and throw the ball at the idol. If it sticks 
 our prayer will be answered; if not, we must pray again. 
 Or we can use the prayer-wheel. This is built much like your 
 coffee grinder; we place our written prayer in the hopper 
 and start to grind. The more times the wheel goes round 
 the more prayers we get credit for saying. 
 
 I used to use this prayer-wheel, but since I came to the 
 Christian school I am sorry to find my people praying al- 
 ways, but not knowing the God who alone is able to answer 
 their prayers. They pray to gods that Isaiah told about: 
 "that have eyes that see not, and ears that hear not"; gods 
 that can never respond to their cry of need. Let us pray 
 earnestly that soon all may learn of the one true God to 
 whom all men shall bow, who alone can give healing divine 
 and life eternal. 
 
 Confucianism, the other great religion, is a set of rules to 
 live by. Many of the rules are very good, but most of the 
 good ones apply only to men and boys. 
 
 Confucius had no place for girls and women, and in his 
 great books likens them often to pigs and other animals, but 
 
52 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 a better day is 
 dawning in Ja- 
 pan for women. 
 Shortly be- 
 fore I graduated 
 from the Girls' 
 School I was 
 urged to join the 
 Young W o m- 
 y. w. c. a. summer CONFERENCE e n's Christian 
 
 Association of the School. It is composed of all the Chris- 
 tian girls, and I said: "Oh! why do you ask me to join? 
 Am I a Christian?" Although I had never told anyone, 
 I really was trying to be a Christian. The girls said: 
 "You can keep it a secret no longer. We can tell by your 
 life you are of the Jesus Religion." So I openly confessed 
 Jesus, joining both the church and the Association. One 
 day, in a meeting, our leader told us the great need for 
 Bible- women — women who could go in the neglected homes 
 and carry the message of light. She reminded us that only 
 women could enter our Japanese houses, that our men were 
 giving their time as teachers and evangelists, and doing 
 much good, but the call for consecrated women was great. 
 
AT WORSHIP 53 
 
 I felt something tugging at my heart, and urging me 
 to say, "Oh! send me, I'll go," but then I remembered my 
 mother and father, and how disappointed they would be to 
 even know I had decided to follow the "Jesus Way." 
 
 I knew they expected me to marry a young man already 
 selected, and he was not a Christian, so I held my peace and 
 permitted the chance to pass ; but oh ! I did want to respond 
 to that call. Time passed and at length the day of gradua- 
 tion came. 
 
 We had a week of celebration, as you do in America. 
 My parents were so proud of me. I told them I was a 
 Christian, and they laughed and said I'd soon forget that, 
 when I left school and was home with them planning for 
 my wedding. 
 
 The graduation day was over at last, and I was about 
 to leave. As I said good-bye, one of our teachers put her 
 arms about me and said: "O Fuji San, I did wish you might 
 continue your studies in our Bible department and become 
 a much-needed Bible-woman." 
 
 Life at home was not as pleasant as at school. I missed 
 the teachers and the girls, too. My parents refused to take 
 my changed religious beliefs seriously. It was hard to be a 
 Christian, and finally my parents treated me harshly. I tried 
 
54 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 to bear it all as Jesus would have me do. 
 The young man selected for me to marry 
 did not want to marry a Christian, so my 
 parents felt disgraced, and I determined 
 to go to my teachers and tell them my 
 distress. 
 
 They received me gladly, and offered 
 to have me come back to them and take 
 up the Bible-study, with a view of becom- 
 ing a Bible-woman; and this time when 
 my heart urged me to say: "Yes," I was 
 at liberty to go. 
 
 Two years of training followed. 
 
 During that time I taught in Sunday 
 
 School and made some visits; at last I 
 
 bible-woman wa s graduated, and as a Bible-woman 
 
 was given the privilege of teaching this message to women, 
 
 as well as children. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MY WORK AS A BIBLE-WOMAN 
 
 My first work was in the Miyagi district, round about 
 Sendai. Going from house to house and talking about the 
 Bible was very different from teaching in Sunday School. 
 I went first to the parents of our scholars and was received 
 very well, after that I planned to call on a few strangers 
 each day. 
 
 My duties were varied. On Sunday, besides teaching, 
 I played the organ and led the singing. Then I gave every 
 one a word of welcome, taking special care to see that I 
 secured names and addresses of any strangers present, so 
 I could call on them during the week. During the week I 
 called on all our absent Sunday School scholars, held a 
 mother's meeting, attended the Ladies' Aid meeting and 
 planned for any social times. 
 
 We do not have many social times in our churches in 
 Japan. Our men and women are not in the habit of ming- 
 ling together in public, so only occasionally we gather to- 
 gether and have an informal program. Our meetings are 
 
 55 
 
56 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 opened with prayer and singing, some children sing or recite 
 or go through some exercises, and refreshments are served. 
 
 In the homes, the Bible-women try to render any needed 
 sendee, like your deaconesses will render in America. In case 
 of illness, the Bible-woman will perform, in part, the duties 
 of nurse, thus gaining the love and confidence of the parents. 
 At first the people did not seem very anxious to have me 
 call, but by repeated visits and little acts of kindness, the 
 wall of opposition was broken down, and they frequently 
 asked me: "Why do you do all these things instead of think- 
 ing about your own pleasure?" Then we can tell them of 
 Jesus and what He has done for us, and how our love to 
 Him compels us to do deeds of kindness to others. We can 
 tell them how Jesus and His love changed our lives, and 
 made us happy, and how much we want them to learn the 
 "Jesus Way." Sometimes it is hard to get permission to 
 read the Bible, but they all love to hear us sing. So I sing 
 the gospel first, and then tell them the message of my song, 
 and finally I am permitted to read this same message from 
 my Bible. 
 
 I ask them to think it over until I call again, and on the 
 next call you may be sure they have talked it over at home, 
 and with their neighbors, and are ready with lots of questions. 
 
MY WORK AS A BIBLE-WOMAN 57 
 
 Thus we sow the seed and God is not slow in giving us the 
 increase. If my home visits are well received, I urge them 
 to attend preaching services. 
 
 Our services are held in our chapels and in preaching 
 stations. Our chapels are like your own, but our preaching 
 stations are vacant storerooms, in different towns and vil- 
 lages to which the evangelist goes with a organ, picture 
 rolls and tracts. The meetings are announced in advance, 
 and special invitations sent to some leading men. The meet- 
 ing is opened with singing and cornet playing, which helps 
 to attract attention. The crowd gathers and they are invited 
 into the room to discuss some phase of the new religion. 
 Many enter, but gradually those not interested drift away, 
 and the truth seekers remain, often coming again and again. 
 They are then directed to our nearest church and Sunday 
 School. 
 
 Did you ever go to a Sunday School out of doors? One 
 time my Sunday School met under a big tree. We had 
 noticed a village not far away that needed Christian teaching 
 and I was sent out to gather the children together. With 
 two student friends, I went forth; it was my first attempt 
 and oh! my heart did thump. I wondered if I would be able 
 to say the right thing! 
 
58 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
MY WORK AS A BIBLE-WOMAN 59 
 
 My companions, O Ham San (Miss Spring) and O 
 Hana San (Miss Flower) were nervous, too. I carried my 
 Bible ; O Hana San carried a long picture roll, like you use 
 in your primary department, in fact, it might have been the 
 very one from your church, for some mission band sent it to 
 the school. When you learn how we use them, I know every 
 band and Sunday School will want to send us their old rolls. 
 
 Ham San carried the hymn-book, she had several little 
 songs caged up in her throat, but she wondered if she would 
 be able to let them out at the right time. On we walked until 
 we saw a group of children, under a big tree, and we decided 
 there was our Sunday School. 
 
 I called to them and said O Ham San would sing to 
 them; some waited, some laughed and some said, "Oh! don't 
 go, maybe it is some of the Jesus people, and grandmother 
 said I must never listen to them." But curiosity was 
 stronger than grandmother's teaching, and as the singing 
 continued, the children came nearer and nearer. I told them 
 
 1 would read a little story from my book and it was a true 
 story, too. I read the story of "Jesus blessing little chil- 
 dren," and O Hana San opened the bright roll and there 
 was the picture of the very story I had read, that wonderful 
 picture of Jesus with the child on His knees, and all the 
 mothers pressing near Him for a blessing for their babies. 
 
60 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 The children were delighted and asked many questions. 
 I told them my book was full of such stories and if they 
 would come next Sunday to the tree I'd tell another story 
 and show more pictures. They all promised to come and the 
 following Sunday quite a crowd were awaiting us. This 
 day our story was about the "Lost Sheep," and our picture 
 "Christ, the Good Shepherd." How they did listen and how 
 glad they were when I told them the Good Shepherd never 
 rested until he found the lost sheep. Our little school thus 
 started, continued until one rainy Sunday made it impossible 
 for the children to come. 
 
 We trudged on to our tree and found only a few of our 
 little Sunday School, but we found a mother of one of the 
 girls present, and she said she came to tell us she thought all 
 the things we told the children were good, and as we could 
 not teach out under the tree much longer, we could come 
 into her home. Oh, how glad we were to accept her kind 
 invitation. 
 
 It was just what we had been praying for. Our school 
 grew during that winter, and early in the spring we rented 
 a large empty room. We now had a preaching service and 
 the older people came and wanted a church. So they began 
 selling eggs and giving their money for the building fund. 
 
MY WORK AS A BIBLE-WOMAN 61 
 
 I think our friends in the United States will help them, and 
 soon we will have a chapel large enough to seat all who want 
 to come. 
 
 Another Bible-woman, O Hisa San, told me she gets 
 up at half -past three every Sunday to get to her Sunday 
 School. She crosses a river in a steamboat and leaving the 
 steamboat, crosses another river in a sail-boat, and teaches 
 her Sunday School, of nearly two hundred children alone. 
 In winter, when the river is frozen, she has to cross the ice. 
 Her prayer is for a helper in her work. These Bible-women 
 have so many claims on their time. 
 
 One day one of our Bible-women had a woman come to 
 her dragging a little child; of course she took her to the 
 Missionary. The child was an ugly little girl, covered with 
 sores and bruises. 
 
 The mother said the sores were from having her pierced 
 to let out the evil spirits. She gave the girl to the Mission- 
 ary, saying: "I hate her and can do nothing for her, so I give 
 her to you." The Missionary, after a few questions, learned 
 she really belonged to this woman, but the woman had an- 
 other beautiful girl and did not want her; in fact she never 
 had wanted her, she wanted a son. Our Missionary took 
 the little girl and surely she did seem to have an evil spirit. 
 
62 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 She would never answer us a word and would hardly per- 
 mit us to touch her, but we tried to bathe the poor body and 
 heal the bruises made by the cruel piercing needle. For sev- 
 eral days there seemed to be no response, but finally love won 
 the battle, and our little girl wanted to know what made us 
 treat her so kindly when she had been so ugly. 
 
 We told her we loved her, and felt so sorry for her, but, 
 poor thing, she had never known love and could hardly 
 understand us, but the day came when she, too, wanted to 
 learn about that love. She tried hard to please her teachers 
 and new friends. 
 
 She became an earnest Christian and was the means 
 of bringing her own mother and father to Christ by her 
 changed life. 
 
 Her family were reunited and lived happily together as 
 Christians. 
 
 This is a mere glimpse into my life as a Bible-woman. 
 It is a hard but joyous life. Ofttimes we are lonely, as the 
 Japanese do not look with kindness on young women who 
 travel alone and do not get married early, so a large number 
 would not permit their daughters to associate with us. We 
 must learn to bear this with such gentleness and tact that 
 we may win even our enemies to the "Jesus Way." 
 
MY WORK AS A BIBLE-WOMAN 63 
 
 I had been working in the Miyagi district for several 
 years when the call came from the Yamagata district for 
 trained workers. 
 
 The harvest there was ripe, but the reapers few. Some 
 missionaries like John the Baptist of old had been fore- 
 runners of this gospel, but little harvesting had been done. 
 
 I was asked to assist the Missionary at Yamagata. Sev- 
 eral preaching stations had been opened, and some Japanese 
 preachers were at work, but the need for work among the 
 children was great. With mingled joy and regret I re- 
 sponded to the call. I was proud to be trusted with work 
 in this new field, but I had learned to love the women on 
 whom I called, and I loved our Sunday School and church 
 at Sendai. 
 
 My trip to Yamagata by rail was my first ride on a 
 train. I had never been so far from home, so it was really 
 an event to me. The 104 miles were covered in eight hours, 
 and I was safely housed with our Missionary. 
 
 During the next few days he told me of his travels 
 through this district, of the response the people gave and of 
 how few laborers were available to care for this particular 
 field. I, then and there, consecrated myself anew to the 
 work in this district. 
 
64 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 The Missionary told me that 
 on his last tour, with the help of 
 a Japanese preacher, they had 
 addressed ten thousand people 
 and distributed over fifteen thou- 
 sand tracts, and as a result two 
 hundred persons were seeking to 
 know more of this "Jesus Way.'' 
 
 The children in our neighbor- 
 hood soon learned to know me 
 and we had good times together. 
 
 The little church grew and the 
 Sunday School was my delight. 
 
 Two little girls from the home 
 of a high official came to the 
 
 t school. I noticed they showed 
 
 j| interest and learned rapidly. 
 
 One day one of them whispered, 
 "Do you know I am a Christian, 
 too ? I say 'Now I lay me down 
 playixg with her doll to sleep' every night, and I never 
 drink even when my father wants me to." 
 
 Dear little girl! She was a Christian, for she had 
 
MY WORK AS A BIBLE-WOMAN 65 
 
 learned to trust herself to the care of Jesus. Another little 
 girl, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, 
 responded: "An American principal of a Jesus orphanage." 
 Of course she could never be that, could she? 
 
 But she had been watching the Missionary closely, and 
 she wanted to be just like her and be able to do the same 
 helpful things. One of the boys said: "You teachers have 
 taught us to love one another, while before we were selfish, 
 and did not care how others got along." 
 
 The winters in Yamagata were hard ones. The heavy 
 snows made travel very hard ; yet this is our very best time 
 for visiting, especially in the country. As the snow keeps 
 the people indoors they welcome a caller. The Missionary 
 and his helper often go through snow up to their waists; 
 sometimes they lose the path and spend much valuable time 
 finding the way out. 
 
 Would you like to know how our Sunday School looks 
 while in session? A number of girls and boys crowd in. 
 The girls carry babies on their backs and frequently need 
 to jump up and down or sway from side to side to amuse 
 the crying babies. The boys like to bring balls and amuse 
 themselves by keeping two or three in the air at one time 
 while we are talking, and in a new village some of the chil- 
 
66 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 dren on the outside annoy us by yelling in the doors or 
 stoning the outside of the building. This only happens 
 when our schools are first opened and are new to them. 
 
 It is hard to talk under these conditions, so we have lots 
 of singing. Everyone loves to sing, and they all sing as 
 loudly and quickly as they can. 
 
 One time one of your ministers was here on a visit, and 
 he was asked to play the organ for Sunday school. He 
 started your song, "Bringing In the Sheaves," but soon the 
 children were far ahead of him, singing four verses without 
 stopping. He had all he could do to keep up to them. At 
 the close the Missionary said: "Say! did you lead the music?" 
 The visitor replied: "Oh, dear, no! I was only too glad to 
 be able to follow." These little things would be funny to 
 you, but when we see Sunday after Sunday the same chil- 
 dren come again and again, and each time listen more in- 
 tently to the stories, and learn to love the little songs and 
 the pictures, we know it can only lead to one end — the desire 
 to learn to do the things that are well pleasing unto God. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MY MARRIAGE 
 
 It was in the midst of my work that the most important 
 event of my whole life occurred — I met the man who later 
 became my husband. I know you Juniors want to hear 
 all about it, and it was just a bit romantic. One day I had 
 gone to a neighboring village to visit the silk factories and 
 speak to the girls. Much of our work is done among these 
 girls. They work from five in the morning until ten at 
 night, seven days in the week, with less than two hours daily 
 for meals, so our visiting is done at the factory, bearing 
 the factory I heard someone blowing a horn, and coming to 
 the end of the street I saw a motorcycle with a side car. Of 
 course it could mean only one thing — a Missionary and his 
 helper. The Missionary was blowing the horn and his helper 
 giving out tracts until the crowd gathered. When the helper 
 handed me a tract I showed him the tracts I had been giving 
 the girls in the factory, and soon we were acquainted. The 
 Missionary talked and explained a picture roll after lots of 
 singing. The meeting being over, we were all invited to an 
 
 67 
 
68 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 evening meeting to be held in an empty storeroom. 
 
 I attended the evening meeting and was delighted to 
 find the Japanese helper had been trained in North Japan 
 College at Sendai. Can you imagine how we enjoyed talk- 
 ing about Sendai and our dear old schooldays? Ichiro San 
 (for that was his name) told me of his struggle to be a 
 Christian; how his people cast him out when he joined the 
 church, and not knowing where to go he applied at the In- 
 dustrial Home of the Reformed Church in Sendai. Here 
 he was given a chance to learn printing, and by working at 
 his trade half-time and going to school the rest of the time 
 he had acquired an education. Before graduating from col- 
 lege he had made up his mind to preach the gospel. Finan- 
 cial aid was sent him by one of the churches in the United 
 States, so he was able to take the theological course. He 
 told me he had just lately come to this district. 
 
 The evening service passed all too quickly for me, and 
 after it closed I met Ichiro San again. 
 
 Ichiro San and I soon became the best of friends, as 
 we planned our work together and taught in the same Sun- 
 day Schools. The time passed pleasantly, and soon Ichiro 
 was assigned to a church in a village some distance away. 
 
 I knew I would miss him greatly, and somehow I felt 
 
MY MARRIAGE 69 
 
 he would miss me, too. At last the night came to say "Good- 
 bye," and then I learned he had never meant to say a real 
 good-bye. He told me he always meant to have me go 
 to the new church with him as his wife. I felt I was not 
 good enough to be a preacher's wife, but I knew I had 
 learned to love him dearly and would try, oh! so earnestly, 
 to help him in the work we both loved. 
 
 Our parents kindly made the necessary arrangements, 
 according to our custom, and Ichiro left me with the under- 
 standing he would return soon to marry me. My first greet- 
 ing from Ichiro after his departure was the gift of a dress, 
 and it made me so happy. 
 
 I suppose you think that was a queer present coming 
 from my fiance, don't you? Well, to me it was a most wel- 
 come one, for in our country it is quite the customary en- 
 gagement gift. Every man sends a dress or at least an "obi" 
 (sash) as soon as the engagement is announced, and we look 
 forward to it as you look forward to a ring. In return I 
 sent him some violets, my favorite flowers, with a sprig of 
 evergreen, and he knew it meant my love for him would be 
 unchanging. 
 
 We were married in the home of the Missionary at 
 Yamagata. It was a quiet little wedding, so different from 
 
70 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 many of our weddings in Japan. I could not help feeling 
 glad I was a Christian, and thus permitted to choose my own 
 husband. Think of it! Many of my friends, during their 
 school years, are called home suddenly to marry one whom 
 they have never seen. 
 
 Every father feels it his duty to select a husband for his 
 daughter when she is of suitable age. A friend acts as go- 
 between and tries to bring the father a suitable man, and if 
 the father accepts him the affair is settled, after the go- 
 between receives a gift for the service rendered. 
 
 The girl has nothing to do but smile and submit, and 
 sometimes it turns out very pleasantly, but just as often it 
 means unhappiness for the girl. Especially is this true 
 when a Christian girl is forced to marry a man of another 
 religion, for the man is always head of the family and must 
 be obeyed. 
 
 Our new home was about 100 miles from Yamagata, 
 in the Wakamatsu district, a new district giving much spirit- 
 ual promise. With great joy we took up our new work and 
 Ichiro made regular trips into the surrounding country, be- 
 cause most of our members were of the farming class. The 
 snows, like in the Yamagata district, made our winter work 
 very hard. In many places it is from six to ten feet deep 
 
MY MARRIAGE 71 
 
 and it does not melt for many months. In the spring we 
 organized a Ladies' Aid Society, and these poor women 
 would bring a few eggs or a chicken and I would sell them 
 and add to our little building fund, for by faith we could 
 see the time was not far distant when our little room could 
 not hold all who would come. During the spring our hopes 
 were realized, and some of our Sunday School classes were 
 held in the open air during the summer. When autumn 
 came we called a meeting to see what could be done. It was 
 on prayer-meeting night, and our attendance was unusually 
 small. Only seven were present, and these felt very much 
 depressed. Only one month before we had agreed to buy 
 at a bargain a lot of ground in the center of town, an ideal 
 location. There were two old houses on the lot, and we had 
 planned to roll them together and remodel them for a Sun- 
 day School, but as is always the case in such an enterprise, 
 the cost was going beyond our first estimate. 
 
 We were especially discouraged to hear that one hun- 
 dred and fifty feet of foundation stone, costing twenty dol- 
 lars in American money, would be needed. To you and 
 your church this would not seem a large sum, but to the 
 seven gathered for prayer it seemed impossible. 
 
 The stone-mason had explained the extra charge was due 
 
72 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 to the fact that the quarry where our building stone would 
 be secured had a very large block of stone high up, which 
 would need to be removed before it was safe to take out any 
 more stone. In our need we prayed very earnestly, and 
 while we prayed the place was shaken by a single, violent 
 earthquake jar. The next morning our stone-mason came 
 with a new estimate. It would cost only half as much, be- 
 cause the earthquake jar had thrown down the great block 
 and split it into the right-sized pieces to be used for their 
 purposes. Some people called this "luck," but we called it 
 a "miracle" in answer to our prayer. 
 
 The story of the miracle was told far and near, and 
 many came to see this little church when it was finished. It 
 was a joyous day when the Missionary from Wakamatsu 
 came to dedicate our building to the service of Jesus. 
 
 Soon after the dedication our province had a fair, and 
 the Christians decided to put up a rest booth. While the 
 people rested we held services which met with great success. 
 An evangelist was secured and the services continued even 
 when the fair closed. All the Christian churches received 
 converts, and we received our share, too. 
 
 A year had passed and Ichiro and I decided to spend 
 our first wedding anniversary in Yamagata. The day, a 
 
MY MARRIAGE 73 
 
 bright clear one, just the kind you would select for a holiday, 
 arrived and we started joyously on our trip. We recalled 
 our first trip and many incidents of our meetings in Yama- 
 gata, as well as the trips to the villages through which we 
 were passing. Arriving in Yamagata, we were warmly 
 received by the Missionary and his wife, who wanted to hear 
 all about our work. In turn they told us of their own work, 
 and especially of the very new kindergarten, and promised 
 I should see it the next day. 
 
 I wish I could picture to you that kindergarten, so you 
 would enjoy it as much as I did. Think of a large plain 
 room with lots of wooden shoes in a box at the door. Then, 
 as you open the door, imagine about twenty-five or thirty 
 little tots with glossy black hair and shining black eyes all 
 togged out in gay little kimonos, all squatting on the floor, 
 forming a group around the teacher, as she told them the 
 story of the "White Hare of Inaba." You know the story, 
 don't you? How the hare used the boasting crocodiles as 
 a bridge, so she could leave her island home, and how she 
 was punished for her trick? If you never heard the story, 
 read all about it in Ozaki's "Japanese Fairy Tales." 
 
 We watched the children make a picture of some chrys- 
 anthemums. The Missionary's wife taught them a little 
 
74 
 
 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 v 
 
MY MARRIAGE 75 
 
 song about how the mill wheel goes around and grinds the 
 wheat and gives us nice flour for bread. Then they all 
 played band, each child representing a musical instrument, 
 and it was lots of fun as well as exercise to keep time to 
 the music: 
 
 After a march around the room they all took their places 
 in the circle, and were permitted to choose their games. 
 
 One wanted to play "Little Seeds." It was interesting 
 to see the little seeds all asleep in the ground until two chil- 
 dren, chosen to represent sun and rain, touched the seeds 
 into life. Slowly the little seeds lifted their heads and grew 
 into lovely flowers. Children representing bees sipped the 
 sweet honey from the blossoms, flying around with a sweet 
 buzzing sound. Thus the story of the whole plant life was 
 told. 
 
 The little faces were full of joy and gladness, and, oh! 
 I did wish we could have a kindergarten in connection with 
 each of our preaching stations. 
 
 No work reaches the heart of a parent so quickly as 
 an interest in their little children. 
 
 Our holiday was over and on our return trip I told 
 Ichiro how much I wished our church could have a kinder- 
 garten. My husband told me the Reformed Church main- 
 
76 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 tained four kindergartens in Japan, and that all the Juniors 
 in the churches in the United States were raising money for 
 more kindergartens. So I am encouraged to think that soon 
 we, too, will have one for our children. 
 
 This little story of my life is almost finished. I have 
 only one more experience to tell you about. I want to tell 
 you about the day my dear little daughter was first laid in 
 my arms. Footsteps came to our door, just as in the other 
 days they came to my father's door, when I was a baby, and 
 they asked in the same tones: "Is it a boy?" But at our 
 answer, "No, it is a girl!" no one expressed sorrow or regret. 
 Many of the friends were Christians, and everyone knew that 
 we would be just as proud of our baby girl as we could have 
 been of a boy. Thirty-three days had passed and instead 
 of presenting our daughter to the gods in the temple, we 
 wended our way to our little church and in the simple rite 
 of baptism we presented our baby daughter to the God and 
 Father of us all. O Haru San (Miss Spring), as we call 
 our baby, is growing larger and stronger, and when we look 
 at her we long more and more for a kindergarten. 
 
 I have told this little story that the Juniors may 
 know the work the Reformed Church is doing in far-away 
 Japan. 
 
MY MARRIAGE 
 
 77 
 
 A'Kis'.: : 
 
 
 You take us as children 
 in the kindergarten and 
 lead us every step of our 
 Christian life, and when I 
 think of how much my 
 husband and I owe to you 
 and your churches I am 
 only sorry we cannot do 
 even more in giving the 
 same privileges to others. 
 
 There are never enough 
 buildings and mission- 
 aries. One of your mis- 
 sionaries said: "We could 
 secure one million chil- 
 new baby dren for the Christian 
 
 Sunday Schools in one month, had we the rooms and 
 teachers to care for them." 
 
 Accept our gratitude for what you have already done, 
 and think of our great needs, and continue to help us to 
 carry this gospel of light to those who yet sit in darkness. 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 Ani san (ah-nee san), elder brother. 
 
 Buddhism (boodhism), religion of Buddha, who taught in India 2400 
 
 years ago. 
 Confucianism, doctrine of Kongfutse, who taught in China 2400 years 
 
 ago. 
 Fudo (foo-doh), a god who is worshipped as a healer. 
 Fuji (foo-jee), name of a beautiful mountain. 
 Foji san, Fuj i-no-yama, Mount Fuji. 
 Gem-pei (gem-pay), a boy's game. 
 Hachiman (hah-chee-man), god of war. 
 Hana (hah-nah), flower. 
 Haru (hah-roo), spring. 
 
 Hirose (hee-roh-say), broad shallows; name of a river. 
 Hisa (hee-sah), old, ancient. 
 
 Izanagi (ee-zah-nah-ghee), a god who created Japan. 
 Izanami (eefzah-nah-mee), sister and wife of Izanagi. 
 Ichiro (ee-chee-roh), first boy; name of a boy. 
 Inaba (ee-nah-bah), rice ground; name of a place. 
 Jinrikisha, man-power wheel; a carriage pulled by a man. 
 Jizo (jee-zoh), a god who helps children after death. 
 Jogakko, a girls' school. 
 Kamidana (kah-mee-dah-nah), a god shelf; a place in the house where 
 
 idols are kept. 
 Kiri (kee-ree), a tree, or its wood; the paulownia. 
 Kyushu (kee-oo-shoo), nine countries; name of a large southern island 
 
 in Japan. 
 Matsushima (mah-tsoo-shee-mah), pine islands; a beautiful island 
 
 near Sendai. 
 Mikado (mee-kah-doh), august gate; palace; the Emperor. 
 Miyagi (mee-yah-ghee), shrine castle; name of the plain in which 
 
 Sendai stands. 
 Mura (moo-rah), a village; a country district. 
 
 79 
 
80 MISS WISTARIA 
 
 Nei-san (nay-san), elder sister. 
 
 Nibancho (nee-ban-cho), two number street; Second Street. 
 
 Nippon, the same as Nihon ; sunrise ; Japan. 
 
 Nobori (noh-boh-ree), a banner; a long piece of cloth fastened to a 
 
 pole. 
 O (oh), honorable. 
 
 O ba san (oh-bah-san), old lady; grandmother. 
 O hayo (like Ohio), honorable earliness; good morning. 
 6 ji san (oh-jee-san), uncle. 
 O ka san (oh-kah-san), mother. 
 O totsu san (oh-totts-san), father. 
 6bi (oh-bee), sash; girdle. 
 
 Oshikawa (oh-shee-kah-wah), push river; a family name. 
 Ozaki (oh-zah-kee), little slope; a family name. 
 Sakura (sah-koo-rah), cherry. 
 San, added to a name means Mr., Mrs. or Miss. 
 Sendai (sen-die), hermit's terrace; name of a city. 
 Shikoku (shee-koh-koo), four provinces; name of an island. 
 Shinto, god way; the native religion of Japan. 
 Shiogama (shee-oh-gah-mah), salt cauldron; a port near Sendai. 
 Tanabata (tah-nah-bah-tah), name of a summer festival. 
 Toko (toh-koh), a bed; comforter laid on the floor. 
 Torii (toh-ree), the portal to a shrine. 
 Waga Shu Yesu (wah-gah shoo yay-soo), my Lord Jesus. 
 Wakamatsu (wah-kah-mah-tsoo), young pines; name of a city. 
 Yamagata (yah-mah-gah-tah), mountain shape; name of a city. 
 Yezo (yay-zoh), barbarian, name of the northern island, Hokkaido. 
 Yokohama (yoh-koh-hah-mah), transverse beach; name of the port 
 
 near Tokyo. 
 Yoshida (yoh-shee-dah), good rice fields; a family name. 
 Yuki (you-kee), snow.