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CHAPTER VI.
A BOY BABY'S LIFE.
T~ ET us lool^ at the way the world appears to the
J^ little boy who at Fukui, the City of the Happy
Well, was born on the same day and hour as was
the baby of Kyoto, who was destined to become the
one hundred and twenty-third Mikado of Great
Japan. The Japanese baby
is neither carried in
arms nor rocked in a cradle. On the seventh day
of its life the little akambo, or " pink baby," as an
infant of days is called, is properly dressed in its
own clothes and holds its first full reception. It
is
presented to the relatives and friends who come
in to offer congratulations and presents to child and
parents. They are very careful in dressing the little
fellow as he comes out of his bath. If
"pink" is
a boy, they insert the left arm first in the sleeve ;
if
a girl, the right hand goes
first. On the twentieth
day the akambo has become a ko.
They then shave
the baby's head so that his little round noddle is as
bald as a cannon-ball. The old ladies who rule the
nursery say that this will keep out fever.
Had we been there to see how mother and nurse
got ready for the new little stranger, we should have
missed the stores of linen, the tiny garments of
snowy muslin, the pretty ruffles or gowns, such as