JO	INTERVIEWING JAPAN
fish and not of fatty red fish, no meat and lots of
vegetables, but none the less the fact that Japanese
babies have always been small has saved the lives
of many mothers in Japan. I think that less than
i per cent of our women die in childbirth.^1 The
diet, of course, was for the purpose of purification
according to Buddhistic principles. Mild exercise
was also advocated and the carrying of heavy
loads and high reaching were thought to be in-
jurious," she said.
^cCMany of the old ideas were based only on
superstition. Most of them have now complete-
ly disappeared," said Mrs. Kazami "For ins-
tance, as in other parts of the Orient, the women
were afraid to give birth to a child while in a lying-
down position lest their blood solidify inside."
According to the Sho-rei Hikki which ceremoni-
ously prescribes what a lying-in chamber should
have, there must be two tubs in which to place
underskirts, two tubs to (hold the placenta, a
wooden object for the mother to lean against, a
stool for the midwife to use while supporting the
mother in delivery, pillows so that the child-bed
ridden women may be comfortable, various buck-
ets, basins and other similar objects. Besides
^193 per cent deaths of mothers from the effects of child-
birth were recorded for the year ending in October, 1938.