The match having been agreed upon, the bridegroom’s father sends a present—nothing is done in Japan without presents—to the bride’s father. The bearer, accompanied by the mediator, delivers not only the presents and a written list or invoice of them, but a complimentary message also. For these presents a written receipt is given, and, three days after, the bearer and those who attended him are complimented by a counter present. The following articles are then got ready at the bride’s house by the way of outfit: A white wedding-dress, embroidered with gold or silver; four other dresses, one with a red, a second with a black ground, one plain white; a fourth plain yellow; a number of gowns, both lined and single, and all the other requisites of a wardrobe, as girdles, bathing-gowns, under robes, both fine and coarse, a thick-furred robe for a bed-gown; a mattress to sleep on; bedclothes; pillows; gloves; carpets; bed-curtains; a silk cap; a furred cotton cap; long and short towels; a cloak; a covering for a norimono; a bag with a mixture of bran, wheat, and dried herbs, to be used in washing the face; also a bag of tooth-picks, some skeins of thin twine, made of twisted paper, for tying up the hair; a small hand-mirror; a little box of medicines; a small packet of the best columbac, for painting the lips; several kinds of paper for doing up packages; also paper for writing letters; a _koto_ (a kind of harp); a _samisen_ (a sort of guitar); a small chest for holding paper; an inkhorn; a pin-cushion; several sorts of needles; a box of combs; a mirror with its stand; a mixture for blacking the teeth (the distinguishing mark of married women in Japan, some blackening them the moment they are married, and others when they become pregnant); curling-tongs for the hair; scissors; a letter-case; a case of razors; several small boxes, varnished or made of osier; dusters; a case of articles for dressing the hair; an iron for smoothing linen; a large osier basket to hold the linen; a tub with handles; a small dagger, with a white sheath, in a little bag (thought to drive away evil spirits and to preserve from infectious exhalations,—a quality ascribed also to the swords worn by the men); complimentary cards, made of paper, variously colored, and gilt or silvered at the ends, to tie round presents; _noshi_, a species of edible sea-weed, of which small pieces are attached to every congratulatory present; silk thread; a small tub to hold flax; several slender bamboos, used in hanging out clothes to dry; circular fans; common fans; fire-tureens; and—what certainly ought to form a part of the bridal outfit of our city belles—a small bench for supporting the elbows when the owner has nothing to do! Several books are also added, poems and stories, moral precepts, a book on the duties of woman in the married state, and another—the very one we are now giving an abstract of—on the etiquette of the marriage ceremony. Two different