--'No,' I said, 'like _a-i-t-o-_ without _a_, that is to say, _i_ in your own French way of pronouncing Ireland. I will once for all give you a good clue how to pronounce Japanese names, which you must come across very often nowadays in the newspapers. _I_ is pronounced always like _i_ in your _il_ or English _ill_. Our _E_ is always like _e_ in French "état" or "été." _G_ is always hard gutteral, that is to say, _ga_ like _g_ in "Gambetta," _ge_ like _ge_ in English "get," and _ge_ in German, and your _gue_. _Gi_ like _gi_ in the English "gift," and your _gui_ in "Guillaume," and, therefore, you must pronounce General "Nogi" like General "Nogui" in the French way, and not like "Noji" or "Nozi" as you generally do. Our _go_ is always _go_, in English "got," unless the _o_ is a long one as in Tôgô, and our _gu_ is always like a simple _g_ in Gladstone and Grant.' --'But how do you then account for _u_?' interposed she. --'Our _u_ preceded by a consonant,' I answered, 'is generally sounded very, very slightly--almost inaudibly, in fact--so much so that you need take no notice of it. Therefore _ku_, _su_, _mu_, etc., are like simple _k_, _s_, _m_, etc. There is another secret in pronouncing our names, and it is this: when a consonant is followed by a vowel, pronounce it always together with the vowel. Thus _yoritomo_ should be pronounced _yo-ri-to-mo_, and not _yor-i-tom-o_, and pronounce it without putting any accent: if you follow this rule, you will get nearer to the right pronunciation.' There was among those present the daughter of Prince Ichijo, naval attaché to the Japanese Legation. She was addressed by a person present as Miss Ichijo. This appears to have struck a lady present, who was at a little distance from her. She said to me: --'Is not that young lady of very high birth?' --'Yes, she is. Her parentage is very high, though not of the Imperial blood.' --'Is she not a daughter of Prince Ichijo?' --'Yes, she is the daughter by his first wife, who is no more; the present princess is his second wife, also of high birth, being a daughter of one of our former great feudal lords.' --'How is it, then, that the young lady is addressed as "Miss." If she were a European, she would certainly be addressed as princess, or by some other title?' --'You are right in thinking so,' I answered; 'but in Japan the titles of nobility are only borne personally by the chief of the family and his wife. All the other members of the family differ in no way from ordinary people, except that they share the membership of the family. In this respect our system totally differs from that of Continental Europe. The English system is like ours as far as law goes, but there also the younger members of noble families enjoy some distinction by courtesy. This is the reason why one hears of a marquis, an earl, or a viscount speaking in the House of Commons as an M.P.'