Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/195

 custom, from a remote era, to attach to the girdle various objects of every-day service. The most ancient of these is the kinchaku, or money-pouch. Of course in the days when media of exchange were practically limited to strings of copper cash much too bulky and cumbrous to be carried on the person, a money-pouch was a useless article to the middle and lower classes. But to aristocratic and wealthy folks, who made their payments with gold dust or coins of the precious metals, the kinchaku was more or less necessary. After a time, however, it ceased to be much employed as a monetary receptacle, its place being taken by a kind of pocket-book carried in the bosom. The kinchaku did not go out of vogue, however. It now became a part of a child's costume, and served to contain an amulet and a wooden ticket on which were inscribed the name and address of the child's parents, the little one being thus placed under the protection of heaven, on the one hand, and of kindly folks who might find it straying or in trouble, on the other. That is now the chief function performed by the kinchaku, though its original use as a money-bag is still perpetuated by old ladies. As part of a child's toilet it is often a very beautiful affair, made of richly embroidered silk or costly brocade, and the method of attachment to the girdle is simply by tying. But tradition says that when men used the kinchaku, they preferred to keep it in its place by the aid of a kind of button. The strings of the pouch being fastened to this button, the latter was passed under the girdle and brought out above it so as to offer an effective obstacle to the withdrawal of the pouch without the owner's cognisance. The pouch itself may have been a simple affair in ancient times.