ABSTRACT
INTO the life of a Japanese home enter many customs and observances that have not been dwelt upon in the preceding pages, but without some understanding of which our knowledge of the life of Japanese women is by no means complete. In Japan the woman's place is so entirely.in the home that all the ceremonies and superstitions that gather about the conduct of every-day affairs are more to her than they are to the freer and broaderminded man. The household worship, the yearly round of festivals, each with its special food to be prepared, the observances connected with birth and marriage and death; what is to be done in time of illness, of earthquake, of fire, or of the frequent flittings that render life in Japan one succession of packings and unpackings,- all these are matters of high importance to the wife and mother, and their proper observance is left largely in her hands.
