The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

a collection of dolls ;
SPORTS OF JAPANESE CHILDREN. 121
Frank and Fred suggested the propriety of making
the little people happy bj' expending something for them. The Doctor
gave his approval ; so the boys invested a sum erpial to about tweut}'
cents of our money, and were astonished at the num-
ber of dolls they were able to procure for their out-
lay. The little Japs were delighted, and danced
around in their glee, just as any children might
liave done in another, country. A few paces away
some boys were endeavoring to walk on bamboo
poles, and evidently they were having a jolly time,
to judge by their laughter. Two boys were hang-
ing by their hands from a pole, and endeavoring
to turn somersets ; while two others were trj'-
ing to walk on a pole close by them. One of the
walkers fell off, and was laughed at by his compan-
ions ;
but he was speedily up again, determined not
to give np till he had accomplished his task.
Japanese children are well supplied with dolls
and other playthings, and there are certain festivals
in which the whole family devotes itself to the prep-
aration or purchase of dolls to amuse the little
ones. The greatest of these festivals is known as
the " Hina Matsuri," or Feast of Dolls, hiria mean-
ing doll, and matsuri being applicable to any kind
of feast. It occurs on the third day of the third
month, and for several days before the appointed
time the shops are filled with dolls just as they are
filled among ns at Christmas. In fact, the whole
biisiness in this line is transacted at this period, and
at other times it is next to impossible to procure the
things that are so abundant at the Matsuri. Every
family that can afford the outlay buys a Cjuantity
of images made of wood or enamelled cla}^, and
dressed to represent varions imperial, nolJe, or
mythological characters, either of the present time
or of some former period in Japanese history. In
this way the children are tanght a ffood deal of his- 'T' "i X'^S*"**
tory, and their delight at the receipt of their pres-
ents is quite equal to that of children in Christian lands. Not only
dolls, bnt a great variety of other things, are given to the girls ; for the
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