Untitled

106 THE WONDERFUL CITY OF TOKIO.
sands of them flying
in every part of the city.
put
Do they never
them up for "
?
girls
>f
They are symbols of vaulting ambition and of a desire
that the child shall make a noise in the world," quietly replied
Oto.
rf
Therefore they are not hoisted in honor of young
ladies."
" I tell you they will be, if we adopt the custom," said Fitz.
" Some of our girls are just as ambitious to be seen and heard
by the world as our boys. Why, many of those koi (carp)
are twenty feet long. I think it would be splendid fun to buy
two of them and hoist tllem over our house."
" But you are not Japanese," said Sallie.
''
Your brothers are almost Nipponese," laughingly ob-
"
served Oto. I don't see why Fitz should not have his nobori.
He is ready to surmount any difficulty and face any sort of
danger."
:c You may rest assured I am going to have the biggest fish
in Tokio," said Fitz.
fr How I like to see them flutter and
wave about in the air. Would not they be just splendid for
the boys at home to hoist on the Fourth of July?"
"What is that man peddling?" asked Sallie, pointing to a
person who was offering some gaily painted toys to a young
lady.
"He is a ha- go-it a-uri (battledore-seller). Our girls are
very fond of playing with the ha-go-ita. They either use a
silk-covered ball or a shuttle made of hard wood and feathers."
''
Why does the girl
inquired Sallie.
f
That is genteel," answered Oto.
hold her sleeve before her mouth?"
" She does not like to
appear familiar with a common person, so she covers the lower
part of her face with the sleeve of her kimono"
f
Those battledores are quite pretty, they have raised
figures on them," remarked Sallie.