more and more modernized in its way of looking at things.

For the Japanese woman, as I have already said, marriage is in most
cases the entrance into a new family. She is cut off from the old ways
and interests, in which she has until now had her part, and she has
begun life anew as the latest addition to and therefore the lowest and
most ignorant member of another social group. It is her duty simply to
learn the ways and obey the will of those above her, and it is the duty
of those above her, and especially of her husband's mother, to fit her
by training and discipline for her new surroundings. The physical
strength of the young wife, her sweetness of temper, her manners, her
morals, her way of looking at life, are all put to the test by this
sharp-eyed guardian of the family interests, and woe to the younger
woman if she fail to come up to the standard set. She may be a good
woman and a faithful wife, but if, under the training given her, she
does not adapt herself readily to the traditions and customs of the
family she enters, it is more than likely, even under the new laws, that
she may be sent back to her father's house as _persona non grata_, and
even her husband's love cannot save her. It is because of this
predominance of the family over the individual that the young wife, when
she enters her husband's home, is not, as in our own country, entering
upon a new life as mistress of a house, with absolute control over all
of her little domain.

_Page 115._

At the time of the celebration of his silver wedding, in 1895, the
Emperor came into the Audience Room with the Empress on his arm, an
example which was followed by the Imperial Princes.

With the engagement and marriage of the Crown Prince, in May, 1900, an
entirely new precedent was established in the relations of the Imperial
couple. The Western idea of marriage between equals has never existed in
the Japanese mind in its thought of the union between their Emperor and
Empress. The Empress, though of noble family, was chosen from among the
subjects of the Emperor, and the marriage was of the nature of an
appointment by the Emperor to the position of Imperial Consort, just as
any other appointment might have been made of a subject to fill an
important position in the government. In the marriage of the Crown
Prince a very different course was pursued. While no departure was made
from the old precedents in the selection of a Princess from one of the
five fam