5. Happy Anticipations
The little Japanese child looks forward to the New Year with as much eagerness as does the little American
boy to Christmas. This same feeling of expectancy and joy at the prospect is very contagious in Japan, and almost
as soon as the month of December sets in, the grown-people as well as the children begin to talk about it, many
of them even beginning preparations that early. Especially are the young girls interested in it, and often one
comes across gay, laughing groups, some of them busy sewing or fashioning odd toys and presents, others planning
what they propose to do or buy, and again others whispering together and trying to make their companions believe
that they propose doing something very remarkable and mysterious at that time.
