"son of man, be not afraid of them" - A Mother and her Child in Old Japan

Tokyo

A Mother and her Child in Old Japan

Once in Japan or in and before the 19th century, unique child adoption was practiced in some local areas.

A poor mother would sometimes travel around with her little child she could not raise by herself.  From a village to another and from a house to another, such a mother asked free accommodation for the night.  No villagers would rather reject such a request, though they knew what she hoped for.

One of such mothers asked a night's lodging and a meal from a farm house.  The mother and her child took a humble supper with the host family.  They didn't talk much.  And later family members retired to sleep in different rooms.  But the mother and child was left in the dining room with a wooden floor and the "irori" hearth.  They slept around the hearth set in the central part of the wooden floor.

She could have woken up early in the morning to leave the house, leaving her child.  Then, the host family would have naturally taken the child as an adopted one.  It was a common custom in some local areas in Japan.

But in this particular case, she thought that her little boy would have to sleep on the wooden floor after he was adopted while other family members would sleep in "tatami" mattress rooms.  She could not bear the image.  So, she took her child with her to continue travelling and finding a suitable house.

Finally in one village house, she could entrust her poor child to an old woman who took the little boy to her sleeping chamber for the night, saying, "Oh, poor little child. I will take this one into my bedding."

Later, this child grew up to be a full-fledged worker, and one day he visited a village where his mother had once come from.  But he didn't return and live in the village.   He continued to live in the village where he had been adopted, inheriting some fortune from the fostering family, though it was not large as he was an adopted member.

So, once in Japan or in and before the 19th century, unique child adoption was practiced in some local areas.





**** **** ****



Eze 2:5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
Eze 2:6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Eze 2:7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.