Japan Today

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J. B. Lippincott Company, 1904 - Japan - 323 pages

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Page 78 - One of the justices must attend at the chambers of the court, from ten o'clock in the morning until four o'clock in the afternoon...
Page 107 - A woman shall be divorced, who, by talking overmuch and prattling disrespectfully, disturbs the harmony of kinsmen and brings trouble on her household, (vii) A woman shall be divorced who is addicted to stealing.— All the "Seven Reasons for Divorce" were taught by the Sage. A woman, once married and then divorced, has wandered from the "way...
Page 106 - The five worst maladies that afflict the female mind are : indocility, discontent, slander, jealousy, and silliness. Without any doubt, these five maladies infest seven or eight out of every ten women ; and it is from these that arises the inferiority of women to men. A woman should cure them by self-inspection and self-reproach. The worst of them all, and the parent of the other four, is silliness.
Page 55 - May The rain it raineth every day ; All the rest have thirty-one, Without one blessed gleam of sun, And if any of 'em had two-and-thirty They'd be just as wet and twice as dirty.
Page 194 - I am tired of her. I ask no better than to leave her. What will you give me for doing so ? ' The priest asked what he would take. The fox replied, naming certain cakes and other things, which, said he, must be placed before the altar of such and such a temple at 4 pm on such and such a day. The girl was conscious of the words her lips were made to frame, but was powerless to say anything in her own person. When the day and hour arrived, the offerings bargained for were taken by her relations to the...
Page 207 - When my father was a child he heard his old grandfather say that his grandfather saw a total eclipse of the sun. The earth became quite dark, and shadows could not be seen ; the birds went to roost, and the dogs began to howl. The black dead sun shot out tongues of fire and lightning from its sides, and the stars shone brightly. Then the sun began to return to life, and the faces of the people wore an aspect of death ; and as the sun gradually came to life, then men began to live again.
Page 145 - Hokke (upon which the sect of Nichiren is founded) on a tray covered with scarlet and gold brocade. Having bowed to the sacred picture which hung over the tokonoma — that portion of the Japanese room which is raised a few inches above the rest of the floor, and which is regarded as the place of honour — his reverence took his seat at the table, and adjusted his robes; then, tying up the muscles of his face into a knot, expressive of utter abstraction, he struck the bell upon the table thrice,...
Page 192 - The only difference between the cases of possession mentioned in the Bible and those observed in Japan is that it is almost exclusively women that are attacked, mostly women of the lower classes. Among the predisposing conditions may be mentioned a weak intellect, a superstitious turn of mind, and such debilitating diseases, as for instance, typhoid fever. Possession never occurs except in such subjects as have heard of it already and believe in the reality of its existence.
Page 192 - Possession by foxes (kitsune-tsuki) is a form of nervous disorder or delusion, not uncommonly observed in Japan. Having entered a human being, sometimes through the breast, more often through the space between the finger-nails and the flesh, the fox lives a life of his own, apart from the proper self of the person who is harbouring him.
Page 142 - Before the table was a hanging drum, and behind it was one of those high, back-breaking arm-chairs which adorn every Buddhist temple. In one corner of the space destined for the accommodation of the faithful was a low writing-desk, at which sat, or rather squatted, a lay clerk, armed with a huge pair of horn spectacles, through which he glared, goblin-like, at the people, as they came to have their names and the amount of their offerings to the temple registered. These latter must have been small...

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