afterwards. The parents did not think it was proper to make the news
             public until they were certain that the child would survive. The parents did
             their best to make sure the baby would live. They said prayers to ward off evil
             sprits called "onin". The Japanese towns and streets didn't help either. They
             were filthy and unhygienic places. Even though the Japanese were given orders
             to clean the streets, they were often not carried out. However, if a child
             managed to survive for three days, the mother then would begin properly
             breast-feeding it and give her baby its first bath called an "ubuyu". After the
             bath, the baby was put into its first clothes. The next step was to name the
             child. Girls were given names such as Hara (springtime), Yuki (snow), and Hana
             (blossom). Boys were named more plainly such as Ichiro ( first son). After him
             came Jiro (Second son), Saburo (Third son), Shiro (Fourth son), Goro (Fifth
             son) and so on. After the naming ceremony, the baby had his first haircut. The
             clippings were put into a box at the local Shinto religious shrine. The
             Japanese believed that the child's soul was not attached to its body until 30
             days old. So they put the babies clippings into the shrine and a religious
             guardian was to protect the baby's spirit. To prevent an accident, neither the
             mother nor the child was to leave the birth room until the time came for the
             mother to take the baby to the local shrine. A celebration party followed, to
             which all the family and close friends were invited. The child was now
             recognized and accepted into the family and community. (Lewis p.5)
             In Japan, "official" babyhood lasted for a long time. It didn't end
             until the girls were six years and the boys, seven. A difference in appearance
             between the two became quite clear with the end of babyhood and the start of
             childhood. At seven, boys put on their first "hukama", which is a ...