The accomplishments of our women were not acquired for show or social ascendency.  They were a home diversion; and if they shone in social parties, it was as the attributes of a hostess,—­in other words, as a part of the household contrivance for hospitality.  Domesticity guided their education.  It may be said that the accomplishments of the women of Old Japan, be they martial or pacific in character, were mainly intended for the home; and, however far they might roam, they never lost sight of the hearth as the center.  It was to maintain its honor and integrity that they slaved, drudged and gave up their lives.  Night and day, in tones at once firm and tender, brave and plaintive, they sang to their little nests.  As daughter, woman sacrificed herself for her father, as wife for her husband, and as mother for her son.  Thus from earliest youth she was taught to deny herself.  Her life was not one of independence, but of dependent service.  Man’s helpmeet, if her presence is helpful she stays on the stage with him:  if it hinders his work, she retires behind the curtain.  Not infrequently does it happen that a youth becomes enamored of a maiden who returns his love with equal ardor, but, when she realizes his interest in her makes him forgetful of his duties, disfigures her person that her attractions may cease.  Adzuma, the ideal wife in the minds of samurai girls, finds herself loved by a man who, in order to win her affection, conspires against her husband.  Upon pretence of joining in the guilty plot, she manages in the dark to take her husband’s place, and the sword of the lover assassin descends upon her own devoted head.

The following epistle written by the wife of a young daimio, before taking her own life, needs no comment:—­“Oft have I heard that no accident or chance ever mars the march of events here below, and that all moves in accordance with a plan.  To take shelter under a common bough or a drink of the same river, is alike ordained from ages prior to our birth.  Since we were joined in ties of eternal wedlock, now two short years ago, my heart hath followed thee, even as its shadow followeth an object, inseparably bound heart to heart, loving and being loved.  Learning but recently, however, that the coming battle is to be the last of thy labor and life, take the farewell greeting of thy loving partner.  I have heard that K[=o]-u, the mighty warrior of ancient China, lost a battle, loth to part with his favorite Gu.  Yoshinaka, too, brave as he was, brought disaster to his cause, too weak to bid prompt farewell to his wife.  Why should I, to whom earth no longer offers hope or joy—­why should I detain thee or thy thoughts by living?  Why should I not, rather, await thee on the road which all mortal kind must sometime tread?  Never, prithee, never forget the many benefits which our good master Hideyori hath heaped upon thee.  The gratitude we owe him is as deep as the sea and as high as the hills.”