Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

etiquette: no matter how many lacquer boxes may be required for the
purpose, they are the proper utensils for sending the cakes in. Three,
five, seven, or ten men's loads of presents, according to the means of the
family, are also offered. The son-in-law gives a sword and a silk robe to
his father-in-law, and a silk robe to his mother-in-law, and also gives
presents to his brothers and sisters-in-law. (The ceremony of drinking
wine is the same as that which takes place between the bride and her
parents-in-law, with a very slight deviation: the bridegroom receives no
presents from his mother-in-law, and when the third cup is drunk the
son-in-law drinks before the father-in-law). A return visit is paid by the
bride's parents to the bridegroom, at which similar forms are observed.
At the weddings of the great, the bridal chamber is composed of three
rooms thrown into one, 130 and newly decorated. If there are only two
rooms available, a third room is built for the occasion. The presents,
which have been mentioned above, are set out on two trays. Besides
these, the bridegroom's clothes are hung up upon clothes-racks. The mattress
and bedclothes are placed in a closet. The bride's effects must all be
arranged by the women who are sent on a previous day for the purpose,
or it may be done whilst the bride is changing her clothes. The shrine for
the image of the family god is placed on a shelf adjoining the sleepingplace.
There is a proper place for the various articles of furniture. The
kaioké 131 is placed on the raised floor; but if there be no raised floor, it is
placed in a closet with the door open, so that it may be conspicuously
seen. The books are arranged on a book-shelf or on a cabinet; if there be
neither shelf nor cabinet, they are placed on the raised floor. The bride's
clothes are set out on a clothes-rack; in families of high rank, seven robes
are hung up on the rack; five of these are taken away and replaced by
others, and again three are taken away and replaced by others; and there
are either two or three clothes-racks: the towel-rack is set up in a place of
more honour than the clothes-racks. If there is no dressing-room, the
bride's bedclothes and dressing furniture are placed in the sleepingroom.
No screens are put up on the bridal night, but a fitting place is
chosen for them on the following day. All these ceremonies must be in
proportion to the means of the family.
NOTE.
130.The partitions of a Japanese suite of apartments being merely composed of paper
sliding-screens, any number of rooms, according to the size of the house, can be
thrown into one at a moment's notice.
131.A kaioké is a kind of lacquer basin for washing the hands and face.
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