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A JAPANESE HOME. 31
In summer when the mosquitoes make their appearance,
for Japan is equally favored with the rest
of the world with these pests, mosquito nets are
found in every household that can afford them. The
netting is good and strong, though rather coarse. It
is
mostly pink or green. The nets, which are called
" mosquito houses," are made in the form of a cube.
They are hung by brass rings and cords to hooks or
nails in the woodwork on the corners of the room,
and thus occupy nearly the entire space of the room,
but they thoroughly answer their purpose. When a
Japanese widow is willing to secure a partner, she
simply hints to a favored suitor that her mosquito
net is too large
! For the baby's naps a smaller one
is provided.
The arrangements for eating correspond to the
sleeping and visiting, being
all done on the floor. In
a family or party a little table is set before each person.
This table is only four or five inches high and
about a foot broad, having a raised edge
of one inch
high. On this are laid four covered bowls, a little
dish of pickles or sauce, an(frat the right hand side a
pair of chopsticks wrapped in white paper, or in the
pasteboard case belonging to each person, which has
his name written on it. The rice cup is of porcelain ;
the others are usually of lacquered wood.
The rice
is attacked first. The maid-servant, Miss Taka or
Miss Hoshi, sits in the midst of the circle in charge
of the wooden bucket of rice, and replenishes each
cup as it is emptied, receiving it on her lacquered
tray and it
passing with a bow. She is also in charge