ecent
Shint[=o] wedding, after the religious ceremony, which in itself marks a
great step forward in the Japanese ideal of marriage, the priest who
united the couple presented to the bride a copy each of the Kaibara and
Fukuzawa books, perhaps with a view to letting her take her choice
between the old style and the new, perhaps that she might instruct her
husband out of the Fukuzawa book while she put in practice herself the
time-honored precepts of Kaibara.

* * * * *

One feature of the times in T[=o]ky[=o], that is perhaps worthy of passing
notice, is the tendency of women to form themselves into societies and
clubs for the attainment of some common object. Of these women's clubs,
the greater proportion are perhaps educational, the members meeting once
a month or once a fortnight to listen to a lecture upon some subject
that helps to keep them up with the times. There is also a patriotic
society, that concerns itself with raising money for sending supplies to
soldiers in the field, or for widows and orphans of soldiers, or to
help along some other patriotic enterprise. There are societies, too,
for general benevolence, or to help in carrying on the work of some one
institution. A glance at the membership lists of these associations
shows that the motive power is, in almost all cases, the same group of
earnest, educated women, who are, in this way and in countless others,
doing their utmost to broaden the horizons of their countrywomen, and
lead them out into a larger life. This is probably true in the other
cities in which a movement of women into clubs and societies is
noticeable.

It is when the active women of the new way of thinking, whose lives and
thoughts are devoted to work and endeavor rather than to the passive
submission and self-abnegation of the old days, find themselves suddenly
placed among the surroundings of thirty years ago, that the change of
conditions becomes most evident. I cannot think of a better way to
illustrate this than to tell the story of one of my Japanese friends and
her visit to her husband's relatives in a distant provincial city. The
lady who told me the story is a stirring, capable young matron,
educated after the modern ways, who has spent most of her happy married
life of some fifteen or sixteen years entirely in T[=o]ky[=o], except
for a visit of a year to America. She bears a closer resemblance to many
kind-hearted, strong, energetic young Amer