Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/129

 banished was a wedding robe or a mourning garment. It may be here noticed that an ingenious attempt was recently made to prove that several Japanese badges have for their chief motive the Christian Cross, being thus a relic of the brief era during which the foreign faith found powerful converts in Japan prior to its virtual extinction in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is difficult to imagine that badges having such an affinity could have continued to be openly worn in an age when even the cross of St. George displayed on the flag of an English ship precluded her admission to a Japanese port.

Family badges are among the few creations of aristocratic custom that were not systematised by the Japanese and brought within the purview of an exact code of regulations. It was necessary, indeed, that among the retainers of every noble household there should be some possessing an intimate acquaintance with the cognisances of all great personages, so that when the retinues of two dignitaries met en route, there should be no hesitation in exchanging the courtesies appropriate to their relative ranks. But no such thing as a service of heraldry existed.

To conclude this reference to the costumes of the Military epoch, it remains to note that the year was divided into three periods with respect to changes of garments,—winter (September 1st to March 31st), when Kosode was worn; that is