notice being sent previously in order to insure proper accommodation
and privacy: the latter precaution being principally taken on account
of the ladies of the family, who never go beyond the palace except in
a norimon guarded by armed retainers.

[Illustration: A DAIMIO AND FAMILY WITNESSING FIREWORKS.]

In their homes, the aristocracy are as simple in their habits as the
rest of the people. They are much given to study, the favourite
subjects being poetry,[3] history, astronomy, and logic. The children
are usually taught the rudiments of education by their mothers, and as
they advance in years, are either privately instructed by masters or
sent to the great schools at Miako, which are said to be attended by
upwards of four thousand scholars.

[Footnote 3: A very interesting volume of translations of Japanese
Lyrical Odes has lately been published by F.V. Dickins, Esq. M.B.:
Smith, Elder, & Co.]




CHAPTER V.

THE COURT OF THE MIKADO.


The spiritual Emperor of Japan is supposed to be a direct descendant
of the gods, and as such enjoys the adoration, as well as the fealty
of his subjects. Unfortunately, his divine attributes deprive him of