Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/294

 276

Collectanea.

Burial Custom in Japan.

On the 31st March last I found, at the roadside between Atami and Odawara, a structure of which the following is a rough diagram : —

It consisted of four bamboos with a sheet of white cotton cloth stretched somewhat loosely between them. The cloth was tied on the posts with cotton tape. The dimensions of the structure were about a foot and a half square by 18 inches to 2 feet high. Beside it stood a common wooden bucket filled with water, and in the water was a dipper. On the cloth is written in Japanese characters, " Naniu a?nida Butsu" and on the name tablet (A) is written in Sanskrit the posthumous name {Kaimyo) of the deceased.

The above is erected in commemoration of a woman with child who dies before delivery. The place of erection is usually over the grave, but it is also placed near running water or by the wayside, in both cases near to the grave. If placed by running water the bucket is not necessary. Passers-by pour a dipperful of water over the cloth. I cannot ascertain quite clearly whether they are supposed to benefit the dead woman or themselves by so doing. All I can gather is that " they are considered to have done a good action." The period for which the above is erected is three weeks.

J. C. Hartland. Yokohama, 2nd April, 1902.