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rank, from the peasant up to the great daimios or Shôgun. By superior address and skill in the game the peasant rises to the highest rank, or the man of highest rank is degraded.
From the nature of the Japanese language in which a single word or sound may have a great many significations, riddles and puns are of extraordinary frequency. I do not know of any published collections of riddles, but every Japanese boy has a good stock of them on hand. There are few Japanese works of light, and perhaps of serious, literature, in which puns do not continually recur. The popular songs and poems are largely plays on words. There are also several puzzles played with sticks, founded upon the shape of certain Chinese characters. As for the short and simple story-books, song-books, nursery-rhymes, lullabys, and what for want of a better name may be styled Mother Goose Literature, they are as plentiful as with us, but they have a very strongly characteristic Japanese flavour both in style and matter.
It is curious that the game of foot-ball seems to have been confined to the courtiers of the Mikado’s court, where there were regular instructors of the game. In the games of “Pussy wants a Corner” and “Prisoner’s Base,” the Oni, or devil, takes the place of Puss or the officer. We have not mentioned all the games and sports of Japanese children, but enough has been said to show their general character. In general they seem to be natural, sensible, and in every sense beneficial. Their immediate or remote effects, next to that of amusement, are either educational or hygienic. Some teach history, some geography, some excellent sentiments or good language, inculcate reverence and obedience to the elder brother or sister, to parents or to the emperor, or stimulate the manly virtues of courage and contempt for pain. The study of the subject leads one to respect more highly, rather than otherwise, the Japanese people for being such affectionate fathers and mothers, and for having such natural and docile children. The character of the children’s plays and their encouragement
