BY SAKAE SHIOYA ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. Published, August, 1906. Copyright, 1906, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. All Rights Reserved. When I Was a Boy in Japan. Norwood Press Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U. S. A....

Japanese boys have not been introduced very much to their little American friends, and the purpose of this book is to provide an introduction by telling some of the experiences which are common to most Japanese boys of the present time, together with some account of the customs and manners belonging to their life. I can at least claim that the story is told as it could be only by one who had actually lived the life that is portrayed. I have endeavored to hold the interest of my young readers by

How I Looked—My Name—Walking—In Tea Season—My Toys—“Kidnapped”—O-dango. I suppose I don’t need to tell you exactly, my little friends, when and where I was born, because Japanese names are rather hard for you to remember, and then I don’t want to disclose my age. Suffice it to say that I was once a baby like all of you and my birthplace was about a day’s journey from Tokyo, the capital of Japan. I wish I could have observed myself and noted down every funny thing I did when very small, as the gu

Introduction—Dinner—Rice—Turning to Cows—A Bamboo Dragon-fly—A Watermelon Lantern—On a Rainy Evening—The Story of a Badger. Our family consisted of father, mother, grandmother, and two children besides myself, at the time when I was six years old. I don’t remember exactly what business my father was in, but my impression is that he had no particular one. He had been trained for the old samurai and devoted most of his youthful days to fencing, riding, and archery. But by the time he had come of a

A Mimic School—Preparations—The School—How Classes Are Conducted—Out of Tune—A Moral Story—School Discipline—Playthings—“Knife Sense.” At the age of six I was sent to school. For some time before the fall opening, I was filled with excitement and curiosity and looked forward to the day with great impatience. As our neighbors were few and scattered and I did not have many playmates, I wondered how I should feel on coming in contact with so many boys, most of whom were older than I. And then there

Where We Settled—A Police Stand—Stores—“Broadway”—Illumination—The Foreign Settlement. About two years after I entered the village school I had to leave it for good and all. My father, as I have said, was in mid-air between the heaven of old Japan and the prosaic earth of the new institution. He would fain have remained there, had he had a pillar of gold to support him. And it is wonderful to see how this glittering pillar does support one in almost any place. It was a very serious matter for hi

Tomo-chan—The Men with Wens—A Curious Punishment—How I Experienced It—Kotoro-kotoro. Of course I attended another school as soon as we were settled. And every morning I went with my Tomo-chan. But I must tell you who Tomo-chan was. She—yes, she —was the adopted daughter of my aunt, of about the same age as I, and in the same class at school. I wish I had space enough to tell you how she came to be adopted, but I shall have to be contented just with telling you that the main cause of her becoming

My Chinese Teacher—How I Was Taught—Versification—My Uncle—Clam Fishing—A Flatfish. Some months after I entered the public school, my father came to a conclusion that what was taught there was too modern to have enough of culture value. My education had to be supplemented by the study of Chinese classics. And his intention would have been of great benefit to me if he had been equally wise in selecting a good private teacher. As it was, I gained but a fraction of it, undergoing a hard struggle. T

My Father—His Love for Potted Trees—A Local Fête—Show Booths—Goldfish Booths—Singing Insects—How a Potted Tree Was Bought. Evenings were not without enjoyment for me. And for this I owe much to my father. My father was a silent, close-mouthed man. His words to children were few and mostly in a form of command. They were never disobeyed, partly because it was father who spoke, but more because we knew that he spoke only when he had to. Indeed, he carried a formidable air about him, apparently eng

A Swimming School—How I Was Taught to Swim—Diving—The Old Home Week—Return of the Departed Souls—Visiting the Ancestral Graves—The Memorable Night—A Village Dance. The third summer in Tokyo had come. The air was fresh and cool, while the morning-glories in our back yard were blooming lavishly, and the Ainu chrysanthemums in white, pink, and purple, and the late irises were seen carried round the street in flower-venders’ baskets. But it soon got warmer as they vanished from the sight till I foun

A Night at the Dormitory—Beginning English—Grammar—Pronunciation—School Moved—Mother’s Love. It was September and the beginning of a new term. Father decided that I should leave the school I had attended hitherto and go to another one where English was taught. This was the second time that I had left school without finishing it, but I was destined not to fare any better at the new place. Indeed, I changed school four times without finishing, till I finally settled in a college. But this leaping

What I Intended to Be—My Aunt’s View—My Parents’ Approval—My Uncle’s Enthusiasm—The Total Eclipse of the Sun. Like all ambitious boys, I now began to dream of my future. In a daily paper to which we were subscribing, there was a story appearing in serial form, which I happened to read, and in which I became immediately interested. It was a scientific novel, with a revenge motive. The title, the author, the plot—all are now forgotten except the vague idea that the hero in the end, by his high inv

A Novel Experiment—Removal—Our New House—Angling—Tomo-chan’s Visit. We were now to remove to the suburbs. Father got a better position with a firm quite far from our house, and it was thought expedient for us to do so for his convenience. There was one thing which made me dislike this change. And it was about Tomo-chan. We should be separated, and might not see each other so often; all the more so as we had grown to be quite intimate and congenial by this time and had great fun in indulging in s

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