JAPANESE CUSTOMS by Sophia B. Brunson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 22, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 21.

JAPANESE CUSTOMS.

By Sophia B. Brunson

A RETURNED Japanese missionary tells this incident, illustrative of Japanese customs: “One day our cook came to us with a long face, and informed us that his mother had died, and he would therefore go away for a few days. We had been told by the missionary who engaged him that his mother was already dead; and on referring the matter to our friend, he said: ‘O, that is only a polite way the Japanese have of leaving your service. You will probably never see him again.’ We learned afterward that he had entered on a private business enterprise of his own in the city, with the intention of returning to us if it failed. We found that it is a custom of the Japanese for a servant never to tell his master that he is going to secure other employment, or leave him for any reason. He usually comes in with a story about the death or illness of some relative. Those accustomed to the ways of the servant class readily understand that that means that the servant intends to leave them.”

MOST of the Japanese are Buddhists or Shintoists. Shinto means, literally, “the way of the gods.” It is the name given to the vague, mythical, and ancestral nature-worship which preceded the introduction of Buddhism into Japan. Buddhism has been grafted on to Shintoism. The Japanese themselves seem to know very little about it. It is studied in the convents by the monks, who spend their lives trying to dehumanize themselves as far as possible. There are many beautiful temples erected to Buddhism in Japan, the most modern one being that at Kyoto. The description of one temple will give a general idea of all. The way leading to the temple is a babel of noise and confusion. There are venders hawking their wares; there are flower-sellers, and sellers of ointment, and all are yelling at the top of their voices, each one praising his own article, and endeavoring to get the passer-by to purchase. It is the noisiest spot in the city—a regular fair. The entrance to the temple is guarded by two gigantic and hideous demons, which seem more like the mythical gate-keepers of the infernal regions than the guards to a sacred place.

Within the temple there is a promiscuous throng. There are ladies dressed in elegant silks; soldiers in the latest uniforms, resplendent in gold braid and brass buttons; children with babies fastened on their backs; beggars, aristocrats, and servants—all making their offerings and saying their prayers. The main altar, behind which the god sits, is protected by a wire screen. The worshiper must put a copper into the coffer before worshiping his gods. The Japanese write their prayers on slips of paper, chew the paper into soft wads, and spit them out at the god. If the wad hits him, the omen is favorable. Such is the religious worship of Japan, and such it will remain until the people accept the glad tidings that rang out on the air that night in far-off Judea, when a Saviour was born unto men.—Sophia B. Brunson.