amed or boiled, and next in
importance came millet, barley, fish of various kinds (fresh or
salted), seaweed, vegetables, fruit (pears, chestnuts, etc.), and the
flesh of fowl, deer, and wild boar. Salt, bean-sauce, and vinegar
were used for seasoning. There were many kinds of dishes; among the
commonest being soup (atsumono) and a preparation of raw fish in
vinegar (namasu). In the reign of Kotoku (645-654), a Korean named
Zena presented a milch cow to the Court, and from that time milk was
recognized as specially hygienic diet. Thus, when the Daiho laws were
published at the beginning of the eighth century, dairies were
attached to the medical department, and certain provinces received
orders to present butter (gyuraku) for the Court's use.

MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS

Very little is known of the marriage ceremony in old Japan. That
there was a nuptial hut is attested by very early annals, and from
the time of the Emperor Richu (400-405) wedding presents are
recorded. But for the rest, history is silent, and it is impossible
to fix the epoch when a set ceremonial began to be observed.

As to funerals, there is fuller but not complete information. That a
mortuary chamber was provided for the corpse pending the preparation
of the tomb is shown by the earliest annals, and from an account,
partly allegorical, contained in the records of the prehistoric age,
we learn that dirges were sung for eight days and eight nights, and
that in the burial procession were marshalled bearers of viands to be
offered at the grave, bearers of brooms to sweep the path, women who
prepared the viands, and a body of hired mourners. But the Kojiki,
describing the same ceremony, speaks of "making merry" with the
object of recalling the dead to life, as the Sun goddess had been
enticed from her cave. From the days of the Emperor Bidatsu
(572-585), we find the first mention of funeral orations, and
although the contents of tombs bear witness to the fact that articles
other than food were offered to the deceased, it is not until the
burial of the Emperor's consort, Katachi, (612) that explicit mention
is made of such a custom. On that occasion Tori, omi of the Abe-uji,
offered to the spirit of the dead "sacred utensils and sacred
garments, fifteen thousand kinds in all." Fifty years later, white is
mentioned as the mourning colour, but when next (683) we hear of
funerals, it is evident that their realm had been invaded by Chinese
customs, for it is