After breakfast the master of the house will go about his business. If the
day is fine the wife has his straw sandals ready for him; if it is wet
she gets his high wooden clogs and his umbrella of oiled paper. Then she
and the servants escort him to the door and speed his departure with many
low bows, rubbing their knees together--the latter is a sign of deep
respect--and calling good wishes after him.
It may seem odd to us that the servants should accompany their mistress on
such an errand, but the servants in Japan are not like other servants: they
are as much a part of the family as the children of the house. Domestic
service in Japan is a most honourable calling, and ranks far higher than
trade. A domestic servant who married a tradesman would be considered as
going down a step in the social scale. In Japan trade has been left until
lately to the lower classes of the population, and tradespeople have ranked
with coolies and labourers.
This importance of domestic servants arises from two reasons: First, the
old custom which compels the mistress of the house, even if she be of
the highest rank, to serve her husband and children herself, and also to
wait on her parents-in-law, has the effect of raising domestic service to a
high and honourable level. Second, many Japanese servants are of good birth
and excellent family. Only a generation ago their fathers were samurai,
followers of some great Prince, a Daimio, and members of his clan.
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