parents' wishes. Such ideas and practices are con-
vincing evidences to him of the vast moral inferior-
ity of western nations when compared with the
people descended from the gods.
Was Kiku happy? Nay, you should ask, Can
that word express her feelings? She had obeyed
THE WEDDING OF A PRINCESS. 291
her parents: she could do nothing higher or more
fraught with happiness. She was to be a wife
woman's highest honor and a Japanese woman's
only aim. She was to marry a noble by name,
nature, and achievement, with health, family, wealth,
and honor. The house of Echizen was most illus-
trious and closely related to the Tokugawa. Kiku
lived in a new world of anticipation and of vision,
the gate of which the Japanese call iro, and we,
love. At times, as she tried on for the twentieth
time her white silk robe and costly girdle, she fell
into a revery, half-sad and half-joyful. She thought
of leaving her mother to go back alone with no
daughter, and then Kiku's bright eyes dimmed and
her bosom heaved. Then she thought of living in
her new home, in a new house, with new faces, new
responsibilities. What if her mother-in-law should
be severe or jealous? Kiku's cheeks paled. What
if Fujimaro, her husband, should achieve some great
exploit and she share his joy as did the honorable
women of old? What if his present position should
give her occasional access to the highest ladies in the
land, the female courtiers of the castle in Yedo?
Her eyes flashed. What if Fujimaro, in the near
future, should become lord of Echizen ? No ! that
was impossible until gray hairs came and they were
old.
The wedding night had come, seeming to descend
out of the starry heavens from the gods. Marriages
rarely take place in the daytime in Japan. The sol-
emn and joyful hour of evening, usually about nine
292 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
o'clock, is the time for marriage as it often is for
burial in Japan. In the starlight of a June even-
ing the bride set forth to her intended husband's
home, an honorable part of the castle amid lovely
gardens in which were a tiny lake and a waterfall,
as is invariably the custom. Her toilet finished, she
stepped out to take her place in the norimono, or
palanquin, which, borne on the shoulders of four
men, was to convey her to the main castle hall
where the ceremony was to be solemnized.
Just as Kiku stands in the vestibule of her tem-
porary lodgings, let us photograph her for you. A
slender maiden of seventeen with cheeks of carna-
tion ; eyes that shine under lids not so broadly open
as the Caucasian maiden's, but black and sparkling ;
very small hands with tapering fingers, and very
small feet encased in white silk mitten-socks ; her
black hair glossy as polished jet, dressed in the style
betokening virginity, and decked with a garland of
blossoms. Her robe of pure, snowy silk folds over
her bosom from the right to left and is bound at
the waist by the gold-embroidered girdle, which is
supported by a lesser band of scarlet silken crepe,
and is tied into huge loops behind. The skirt of the
dress sweeps in a round trail and her sleeves touch
the ground. Her under-dress is of the finest and
softest Kyoto silk. In her hands she carries a half-
moon-shaped cap or veil of floss-silk. Its use we
shall see hereafter. She salutes her cousin who,
clad in ceremonial dress, with his ever-present two
swords, is waiting to accompany her, in addition to
THE WEDDING OF A PRINCESS. 293
her family servants and bearers, and steps into the
gold-lacquered norimono, the beam of which is
curved in token of her high rank.
The four bearers, the servants, and the samurai
pass down along the beautiful inner castle moats
whose waters mirror the stars. The cortege enters
one of the gate-towers of the ivied castle, passes
beneath the shade of its ponderous, copper-clad por-
tals, and soon arrives at the main entrance of the
great Hall of Four Hundred Mats. Here they find
the stone walk covered with matting, and see a line
of officers of the lord of Echizen, all of whom are
arrayed in gorgeous ceremonial robes. Mr. Rai,
acting as the "go-between," and several near friends
of the bridegroom, now come out to receive the
bride and deliver her to her own ladies-in-waiting,
and especially two of her own young maiden friends
who had gone before to the main part of the castle.
Here we again have an opportunity of looking at
the lovely southern princess, looking exactly like
one's ideal of a Japanese princess because dressed
like one, and, more than all, bearing in her noble
countenance the air of immemorial lineage. Nor
is this mere imagination ; for her father is none
other than a kokushiu (province-ruling) daimio of
the same high rank as the lord of Echizen. Her
father had married the daughter of a kuge", or noble,
of the imperial court in Kyoto, of the house of Ichi-
jo. On her mother's side therefore she is of true
Yamato blood ; and yet it is less pride than winsome
graciousness that lights up her face. Surely she will
be a blessing to Fukui 1
294 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
Here with her maidens she finds her own prop-
erty, which has been brought to her future home
during the day and unpacked. Toilet-stands and
cabinets and the ceremonial towel-rack are promi-
nently displayed. On a tall clothes-frame of gilt
lacquer are hung her silk robes and the other arti-
cles of her wardrobe, which are bridal gifts. Over
the doorway, in a gilt rack, glitters the long spear,
or halberd, to the dexterous use of which all Japan-
ese ladies of good family are supposed to be trained.
On some of those articles of lacquer the artist in
Kumamoto has spent long and patient years of toil,
finishing but one of the important pieces in a twelve-
month. In a box of finest wood, shining with lacquer
and adorned with her shining crest, are the silk
sleeping-dresses and coverlets, which are to be
spread, as all Japanese beds are, on the floor. The
articles above mentioned, with many others not here
named, constitute the trousseau of a Japanese bride.
Kiku rearranges her dress, retouches her lower lip
with golden paint, and puts on her hood of floss-silk.
This is of a half-moon shape, completely covering
her face. She does not lift it until she has twice
sipped the sacramental marriage-cups. Many a Jap-
anese maiden has seen her lord for the first time as
she lifted her silken hood. Kiku is all ready, and
she and the groom are led into the room where the
ceremony is to be performed, and assigned their
positions.
The castle hall, in which the families of the bride
and groom and their immediate friends are waiting,
THE WEDDING OF A PRINCESS. 295
though guiltless of furniture, as all Japanese rooms
are, is yet resplendent with gilt-paper screens, bronzes,
tiny lacquered tables, and the nuptial emblems. On
the walls hang three pictured scrolls of the gods of
long life, of wealth, and of happiness. On a little
low table stands a dwarf pine-tree, bifurcated, and
beneath it are an old man and an old woman.
Long life, a green old age, changeless constancy of
love, and the union of two hearts are symbolized by
this evergreen. In the tokonoma, or large raised
recess, are the preparations for the feast, the wine-
service consisting of gold-lacquered kettles, decan-
ters, and cups of Hizen porcelain.
On two other tables are a pair of white storks and
a fringed tortoise. All through the rooms gorgeously
painted wax-candles burn. The air of the apartment
is heavy with perfume from the censer a repre-
sentation in bronze of an ancient hero riding upon a
bullock. All the guests are seated upon the floor.
With a Japanese marriage neither religion nor the
church has anything to do. At the wedding no robed
priest appears officially among the guests. The mar-
riage is simply a civil and social contract. In place
of our banns is the acceptance of the suitor's presents
by the family of the sought and the announced be-
trothal and intimation of the marriage to the govern-
ent. In place of our answer "Yes" is the sacra-
mental drinking of wine. We may say "wine,"
because we are talking of high life and must use high
words. Sake, the universal spirituous beverage of
Japan, is made from fermented rice, and hence is prop-
296 HONDA THE SAMUKAI.
erly rice-beer. It looks like pale sherry, and has a
taste which is peculiarly its own. Sweet sak is very
delicious, and it may be bought in all degrees of
strength and of all flavors and prices. As the
Japanese always drink their wine hot, a copper ket-
tle for heating sake* is necessary. On ceremonial
occasions, such as marriage, and especially when in
a castle, kettles are of the costliest and handsomest
kind, being beautifully lacquered or gold-damaskened.
Bride and bridegroom being ready, the wine-
kettles, cups, and two bottles are handed down.
Two pretty servant-maids now bring in a hot kettle
of wine and fill the bottles or tall decanters of ex-
quisite porcelain. To one bottle is fastened by a
silken cord a male butterfly and to the other a
female butterfly made of paper. The two maidens
who act as bridesmaids and pour out the wine also
are called "male" and "female" butterflies. The
virgin having the female butterfly pours out some
sake* in the kettle, into which the virgin with the
male butterfly also pours the contents of her bottle,
so that the wine from both bottles thus flow together.
Then the sake* is poured into another gilt-and-
lacquered bottle of different shape.
Now the real ceremony begins. On a little stand
three cups, slightly concave, and having an under-
rest, or foot, about half an inch high, are set one upon
another, like the stories to a pagoda. The stand
with this three-story arrangement is handed to the
bride. Holding it in both hands, while the sak is
poured into it by the male butterfly, the bride lifts
THE WEDDING OF A PRINCESS. 297
the cup, sips from it three times, and the tower of
cups is then passed to the bridegroom and refilled.
He likewise drinks three times and puts the empty
cup under the third. The bride again sips thrice
from the upper cup. The groom does the same, and
places the empty cup beneath the second. Again
the bride sips three times, and the bridegroom does
the same, and they are man and wife they are
married. This ceremony is called san-san-kurdo, or
"three times three are nine."
Like a wedding at once auspicious and illustrious,
the nuptials of Kiku and Fujimaro passed off with-
out one misstep or incident of ill omen. In the
dressing-room and in the hall of ceremony Kiku's
self-possessed demeanor was admired by all. After
drinking the sacramental wine she lifted her silken
hood, not too swiftly or nervously, and smiled blush-
iugly on her lord. The marriage ceremony over,
both bride and groom retired to their respective
dressing-rooms. Kiku exchanged her white dress
for one of more elaborate design and of a lavender
color. The groom removed his stiffly starched cere-
monial robes and appeared in dress of crimson and
white. Meanwhile liquid refreshments had been
served to the parents, bridesmaids, friends, and
maid-servants.
The wine-cup is passed around, and the friends of
both houses drink to the health of the bride and the
groom. There are not many cups, and even these
are so small as to hold scarcely three thimblefuls;
but there are tureens full of water, in which the
298 HONDA THE SAMUKAL
cups are dipped and rinsed before each drinking.
Previous to going into the festal room where the
supper is served, the friends all go out to look at
the grand array of fish, fowl, flesh, vegetables,
pastry, and all the good things which are to be
eaten. The cook has done his best for the occasion,
and artists have assisted the cook ; for all these deli-
cacies and these solid foods are arranged in a most
artistic manner to represent the whole landscape of
Japan. Here are edible mountains, rocks, and preci-
pices ; there are rivers of liquid, and semi-solids of
jelly, and here are bays and promontories and shores ;
and all these pictures of geography are represented
in things which are good to eat. Here are also
fountains and cascades, and trees and plants, and
vegetables arranged so as to resemble a garden. In
short, a most wonderful picture has been created,
which is to be destroyed for the sake of eating.
Husband and wife now took their seats again with
the whole company in the main hall and joined in
the supper, during which apparently innumerable
courses were served. Neither salads, ices, nor black
cake appeared, but the bill-of-fare contained many
choice items best appreciated in Japan. Let us
enumerate a few. There were salmon from Hako-
date", tea from Uji, young rice from Higo, pheas-
ants' eggs, fried cuttle-fish, tai, Tcoi, maguro, and many
other sorts of toothsome fish. There were sea-weed
of various sorts and from many coasts, bean-curd,
many kinds of fish-soups, condiments of various
flavors, eggs in every style, and shell-fish of every
THE WEDDING OF A PRINCESS. 299
shape. A maguro-fish, thinly sliced, but perfectly
raw, was one of the features of the feast. Sweet-
meats, candies of the sort known to the Japanese con-
fectioners, and castira (castile) cake, loquats, oranges,
and many sorts of fruit crowned the courses.
As usual the near friends, Professor Koba, Mr.
Rai, Doctor Sano, and Honda Jiro, all of whom were
present at the wedding, got off by themselves before
the end of the evening and had a pleasant chat.
Mr. Rai mentioned that Mr. Townsend Harris, the
American consul-general, who had been living qui-
etly at Shimoda, was pressing his demand to be
allowed to come to Yedo and deliver the President's
letter.
"No amount of threats, cunning, offers of reward
or accommodation have been able to move him," said
Mr. Rai. " He claims that it would be an insult to
the President to deliver the letter anywhere but at
Yedo, the seat of the government, or by any other
method than in person."
" Well," said Professor Koba, " in spite of all
arguments and precedents against a foreigner's enter-
ing Yedo, the bakufu must give way, and Mr. Harris
will get into the camp city. Once there, he will
wonder why the Sho-gun calls himself the Tycoon,
and has no power in foreign affairs without consult-
ing the Mikado and Imperial Court."
" Then he will want to go to the very capital
itself," said Mr. Rai.
" Yes, that he will ; and the throne and camp will
be at odds. The bakufu must choose its ablest man
for this time of national danger."
CHAPTER XXIV.
A GAME OF POLO.
fashion of making bridal tours is not Japan-
-*- ese. Many a lovely spot might serve for such
a purpose in the everywhere beautiful Japan. The
lake and mountains of Hakone'i the peerless scenery,
trees, waterfalls, and tombs of Nikko, where sleeps
the mighty Iye*yasu, the founder of the Tokugawa
line ; Hakuzan in Kaga ; the spas of Atami, all
these are spots which, if in Europe or America,
would be thronged with bridal parties. But our
princely couple went nowhere.
" At home " for three days is the general rule with
ordinary people. All their friends came to see them,
and presents were showered upon the happy pair.
The great Sho-gun sent Fujimaro a present of a
flawless ball of pure rock-crystal five inches in di-
ameter. The Higo daimio presented him with a
splendid saddle with gilt flaps and a pair of steel
stirrups inlaid with gold and silver and bronze,
with the crest of the Echizen clan glittering in
silver upon it. From his own father he received a
jet-black horse brought from the province of Nambu,
and an equine descendant of the Arab sire presented
by the viceroy of India to the Japanese embassy to
the pope in 1589.
900
A GAME OF POLO.
Let us now notice how the outward form of a
Japanese maiden assumes that of a Japanese ma-
tron. First, then, the maiden wears a high coiffure
that always serves as a sacred symbol of her vir-
ginity. It is not easy to describe its form, but we
think it very beautiful, and will regret the day when
the Japanese musume wears her hair like her sisters
across the ocean. The shimada, or virginal coiffure,
however, is changed after marriage ; and Kiku, like
the rest of her wedded friends, now wore the maru^-
may6, or half-moon-shaped chignon, which is wound
round an ivory, tortoise-shell, or coral-tipped bar,
and is the distinguishing mark of a Japanese wife.
So far, however, the transition from loveliness to
ugliness has not been very startling; Kiku still
looked pretty. The second process, however, robbed
her of her eyebrows and left her bereft of those dark
arches that had helped to make the radiant sun of
her once maidenly beauty. With tweezers and razor
the fell work, after many a wince, was done. With
denuded brows and changed coiffure surely the Jap-
anese god of fashion demands no more sacrifices at his
shrine? Surely Kiku can still keep the treasures
of a set of teeth that seem like a casket of pearls
with borders of coral ?
Not so. The custom of all good society from re-
motest antiquity demands that the teeth of a wife
must be dyed black. Kiku joyfully applied the
galls and iron, and by patience and dint of polish-
ing soon had a set of teeth as black as jet and as
polished. Not strange to tell to a Japanese either,
302 HOXDA THE SAMURAI.
the smile of her husband, Fujimaro, was a rich re-
ward for her trouble and the surrender of her
maiden charms. Japanese husbands never kiss their
wives ; kissing is an art unknown in Japan. It is
even doubtful whether the language has a word
signifying a kiss.
Henceforth, in public or private, alone or in com-
pany, Kiku's personal and social safety, even had she
been a commoner, was as secure as if clothed in
armor of proof and attended by an army. The
black teeth, mam-mage" or bent coiffure, and shaven
eyebrows constitute a talisman of safety in a land
which demands that a woman put her teeth in
mourning for defense.
The people of Fukui were very proud of their
new princess, and now boasted that the granddaugh-
ter of a kuge* had come to live among them. Great
was their joy when she appeared in public, so that
they could look upon her pretty face. In honor of
their prince's son, Fujimaro, and his wife, the young
samurai had for months been practicing for a match
game of polo. The princess was to witness it and
award the prizes, and all who could possibly beg,
borrow, or buy admittance to the riding-course
where the game was to be played were in happy
anticipation of the day.
The origin of da-kiu, or Japanese polo, which is a
game of ball or hockey played on horseback, is re-
ferred to the time of Yoritomo, who wished in time
of peace to keep his cavalry soldiers seasoned by
hard exercise and ever ready for the toils of war.
A GAME OF POLO 303
After a battle it was always customary to cut off
the heads of the slain and to count them. A sol-
dier usually made his record and received promotion
on account of his tally of heads. The score being
made, the heads were then buried, forming those
Jcubi-dzuka, or " head-heaps," which, as grassy or tree-
grown mounds, now mark the site of old battle-
fields in Japan. In time of peace, when there
were no heads to be cut off, except occasionally
those of criminals, a game on horseback was in-
vented in which netted poles or " spoons " took the
place of swords, and wooden balls were knocked
about and counted in lieu of human heads ; but as
of old the contestants were named Genji and He'ike",
and wore white and red, while from the tall wickets
of bamboo flew the pennants of the same rival
colors.
On the occasion of the dakiu tournament given in
honor of the bride and groom, let us imagine our-
selves sitting near the princess and judges. The
ground selected was in front of the clan's stables
over which Mr. Honda was superintendent. The
course was a smoothly rolled, sanded space, about
six hundred feet long, planted at the sides with rows
of cryptomeria and fir trees. The width was about
sixty feet. The stables occupied half the space north
of, and parallel to, the course. The southern half
was a long, covered building with a row of rooms
filled with the families of the daimios of Echizen
and Higo, ladies and gentlemen in waiting, the
judges and scorers. The center of interest and the
304 HONDA THE SAMUEAL
target of all eyes on this day was of course the fair
lady from Higo.
On the opposite side were hundreds, if not thou-
sands, of spectators, among whom were about one
hundred shaven-pated monks, priests, and students,
all in monastic robes and collars, from the Buddhist
monastery of the Shin sect near by. Everybody
was dressed in his, and especially her, best, for the
female spectators were very numerous. Black and
oblique-eyed beauties, with wondrous glossy capil-
lary architecture, and silk gowns and girdles, and
gay fans, rained immense influence on the handsome
young contestants. Most of the twelve players
were students, young fellows of the samurai, or
gentry, class, of from seventeen to twenty-two,
whose eyes, hands, and nerves had been trained at
fencing, wrestling, archery, and spear exercise as
well as with bridle and saddle. Six players, the
He'ike', wore red-lacquered helmets, while those of
the other six, the Genji, were white. All had bound
up their flowing sleeves tightly under the armpits,
and their girdles to their loins, exactly like girls
when at work, though the game in hand was no
girl's play.
At the signal given by two hammer taps on the
clapperless bell, shaped like Columbus' egg after he
had made it stand, the twelve players mounted.
Another tap, and they rode into the lists and sa-
luted the bride and groom, and the judges, near their
prince. Another tap, and then, dividing into two
files of six each, the players rode down to the end
A GAME OF POLO. 305
opposite and farthest from the wickets. The horses
were now in line at the extreme end, ranged on
either side of the course, each horseman holding
up his saji, or spoon. This instrument was made
of bamboo, five feet long, with crook, or scoop, at
the end netted with cord. An American boy would
at once see that it was a game of " shinny " on
horseback, and would think that the saji was more
like a lacrosse racket than anything else.
Two old fellows now entered, each with a basket of
what appeared to be red and white eggs. These were
the balls. They were laid at intervals of two or
three feet apart, the white balls in front of the red-
helmeted players, and the red before the white hats;
that is, the Genji heads were laid before the He'ike'
riders, and the Heike* skulls before the Genji knights.
Two rows of thirty-six balls each thus lay alongside
of each line of players and extended before the
leaders a distance of some yards. At the far end,
whence they had entered, were two wickets of bam-
boo poles. The wickets stood about twenty-two feet
from each other. The poles of each wicket were two
feet apart, and the cord joining them was three feet
from the ground. By the rules of the game each
ball must go over the cord and between the wicket
poles ; failing to do which, the balls falling outside
were tossed back into the course. The Genji, or
whites, were to scoop up and toss the red balls over,
and the Helke*, or reds, vice versa. Each was to
hinder the other and prevent victory if possible.
At the given signal both parties rode up the lists,
306 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
the line of balls on their right hand. They rode
slowly at first, picking up and hurling the balls for-
ward toward the goal ; when within throwing dis-
tance they attempted to fling them over the wickets.
In a few minutes several balls had gone over, and
the upper end of the course was now a pied field,
looking something like an irregularly picked paper
of mint drops.
It was no longer a dress parade, but a pitched
battle and a fiercely contested struggle of excited
men and of clashing horse and gear and bamboo
spoons. There a red flaps his saddle with his heavy
metal stirrups, spurs being unknown, and his steed
flashes toward a white ball. He is just about to
scoop it up, when click goes a white spoon under
his, and the ball flies whirling back. There goes a
victor whose defiant white helmet gleams like a wild
goose careering past the moon. He has already flung
seven balls clear over the wickets, he is now dashing
for an eighth ! Who can stop him ? He is already
shouting his triumph, when, like an arrow, a young
red dashes before him. The red spoon missed the
mark, and the horse's shoulder, striking his white
rival's flank, sends steed and rider rolling over the