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

KITE-FLYING IN JAPAN. 26£
LADIES AND CHII.DRUN AT PLAY.
be very poor to feel that he cannot afford something to make liis children
happy. In return, the children are not spoiled, but become very dutiful to
their parents, and are ready to undergo any privations and sacrifices for
their support and comfort. Eespect for parents and devotion to them in
every possible way are taught by the religion of the country; and, what-
ever we may think of the heathenism of Japan, we cannot fail to admire
this feature of the religious creed.
"It would amuse j'ou if you could see the interest that the Japanese
take in flying kites. And the funny part of it is that it is the men who
do the most of the kite-flying, while the children look on, which is the ex-
act reverse of what we do in our country. They have the funniest kinds
of kites, and show a great deal of ingenuity in getting them up. Every-
body has them, and they are so cheap that even the beggars can have kites
to fly. They are of all sizes and sliapes ; you can buy a plain kite a few
inches scpiare, or you can get one as large as the side of a house, and cover-
ed all over with dragons and other things that sometimes cost a neat little
sum for the painting alone. The Japanese understand the trick of flying
a kite without a tail, and they do it by the arrangement of the strings,
which is cp;ite different from ours. Dn the other hand, some of their
kites will have a whole line of strings hanging down as ornaments, and
sometimes it looks as if the kite were anchored by means of these extra
cords. They make their kites so large that three or four men are needed
to hold some of them ; and there is a story that a nn\n who one day tied the
cord of a kite to his waist was taken up in the air and never heard of