ty is unknown among
us.[25] On the contrary, chastity was a pre-eminent virtue of the
samurai woman, held above life itself. A young woman, taken prisoner,
seeing herself in danger of violence at the hands of the rough soldiery,
says she will obey their pleasure, provided she be first allowed to
write a line to her sisters, whom war has dispersed in every direction.
When the epistle is finished, off she runs to the nearest well and saves
her honor by drowning. The letter she leaves behind ends with these
verses;--

"For fear lest clouds may dim her light,
Should she but graze this nether sphere,
The young moon poised above the height
Doth hastily betake to flight."

[Footnote 25: For a very sensible explanation of nudity and bathing see
Finck's _Lotos Time in Japan_, pp. 286-297.]

It would be unfair to give my readers an idea that masculinity alone was
our highest ideal for woman. Far from it! Accomplishments and the
gentler graces of life were required of them. Music, dancing and
literature were not neglected. Some of the finest verses in our
literature were expressions of feminine sentiments; in fact, women
played an important role in the history of Japanese _belles lettres_.
Dancing was taught (I am speaking of samurai girls and not of _geisha_)
only to smooth the angularity of their movements. Music was to regale
the weary hours of their fathers and husbands; hence it was not for the
technique, the art as such, that music was learned; for the ultimate
object was purification of heart, since it was said that no harmony of
sound is attainable without the player's heart being in harmony with
herself. Here again we see the same idea prevailing which we notice in
the training of youths--that accomplishments were ever kept subservient
to moral worth. Just enough of music and dancing to add grace and
brightness to life, but never to foster vanity and extravagance. I
sympathize with the Persian prince, who, when taken into a ball-room in
London and asked to take part in the merriment, bluntly remarked that in
his country they provided a particular set of girls to do that kind of
business for them.

The accomplishments of our women were not acquired for show or social
ascendency. They were a home diversion; and if they shone in social
parties, it was as the attributes of a hostess,--in other words, as a
part of the household contrivance for hospitality. Domesticity guided
their education. It may be