ely made up her
mind that I was crazy, she never by word or look gave a hint of her
thought. _Jinrikisha_ men grumbled and gave out; hotel-keepers resented
the presence of my dog, or presented extortionate bills; but O Kaio's
good temper and tact never failed her. Difficulties were smoothed away;
bills were compromised and reduced; the dog slept securely by my side on
a red blanket in the best rooms of the best hotels; and O Kaio smiled,
told her quaint stories, amused me and ministered to me, as if I were
her one object in life, though husband and children were far away in
distant T[=o]ky[=o], and her mother's heart yearned for her little ones.

CHAPTER XII.

WITHIN THE HOME.

Into the life of a Japanese home enter many customs and observances that
have not been dwelt upon in the preceding pages, but without some
understanding of which our knowledge of the life of Japanese women is by
no means complete. In Japan the woman's place is so entirely in the home
that all the ceremonies and superstitions that gather about the conduct
of every-day affairs are more to her than they are to the freer and
broader-minded man. The household worship, the yearly round of
festivals, each with its special food to be prepared, the observances
connected with birth and marriage and death; what is to be done in time
of illness, of earthquake, of fire, or of the frequent flittings that
render life in Japan one succession of packings and unpackings,--all
these are matters of high importance to the wife and mother, and their
proper observance is left largely in her hands.

Every well-ordered Japanese home of the old-fashioned kind has its
little shrine, which is the centre of the religious life of the house.
If the household is of the Shint[=o] faith, this shrine is called the
_kami-dana_, or god shelf, and contains the symbols of the gods, _gohei_
in vases, receptacles for food and drink, and a primitive lamp,--only a
saucer of oil in which a bit of pith serves for a wick. Daily offerings
must be made before this shrine, and reverence paid by the clapping of
hands; while on feast days special offerings and invocations are
required. In Buddhist families, the _Butsudan_, or Buddha shelf, takes
the place of the _kami-dana_, and the worship is slightly more
complicated. Greater variety of food is offered, and the simple clapping
of the hands and bowing of the head that is the form of prayer in the
Shint[=o] religion is replaced by the