It is a custom in Japan for every
one to pay all that he owes to his Japanese creditors before the New Year
dawns. If he does not do so, he loses his credit. So on the last day of
the Old Year the Japanese who is behind in his payments looks among his
belongings for something to sell, and carries it to the market in order
that he may gain a few sen to settle with his creditor.
In the great city of Tokyo this fair is visited by every traveller. For
a space of two miles the stalls stretch along in double rows, lighted by
lanterns of oil flares, and here may be seen every imaginable thing which
is to be found in poorer Japanese households. As each Japanese arrives with
his worldly possessions in a couple of square boxes swinging one at each
end of a bamboo pole slung across his shoulder, he takes possession of a
little stall or a patch of pavement and sets out his poor wares.
He has brought mats, or cushions, or shabby kimonos, or clogs, or socks, or
little ornaments and vessels in porcelain or silver or bronze. Sometimes he
brings really beautiful things, the last precious possessions of a family
which has come down in the world--a fine piece of embroidery, a priceless
bit of lacquer, bronze and silver charms, little boxes of ivory, temples
and pagodas and bell-towers in miniature, tiny but perfect in every detail
and of the most exquisite workmanship. Everything comes to market on this
night of the year.
The Feast of the Dead takes place in the hot summer weather, and is
celebrated in different ways in various parts of Japan.
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