Jukichi Inouye

“ The fire-engines, useful as they are for the extinction of fires, are for that reason in disfavour with the true native of Tokyo, who admires the “flowers of Yedo” as much as the flowers of nature, for it is not worth while to turn out of bed on the first alarm of fire, as was his Wont, at midnight in winter at the risk of catching cold, and then run at full speed for half a dozen miles, only to find it extinguished, as would now be the case. Tokyo cannot now boast of what in the old days used to be one of its finest sights. ”

“ The fortunes of the Taira clan, its triumph and prosperity, its arrogance and pride of power, its final fall and extermination, are touchingly told in the Heike Monogatari, the rhythm and pathos of which made it a favourite with blind musicians who sang its most poetic passages to the accompaniment of the biwa, a four-stringed lute. This was the origin of the Japanese lyrical drama. ”

“ The theatre is open in Japan for the better part of a day and is, moreover, an expensive amusement. The great mass of the people who live by daily toil cannot naturally afford to visit a play-house except at rare intervals, and it is to these, the busy and slender-pursed, that the story-tellers’ hall appeals. Artisans and small-tradesmen, with their families, and students seek at the hall a relaxation from the hard day’s work; and as they are after all no unimportant sections of the city population, the influence of these halls on Tokyo life cannot be overlooked. ”

“ Among lucky dreams are those in which one is struck by lightning, climbs a precipice, is confined underground or in a cave, crosses a sea, eats rice, carries a big log, worships a god, meets a man of high rank, sharpens a sword, sees a hermit, casts a net, vomits gold and silver, sits or walks on a bridge, reads a book, rides in a palanquin, sheds tears, or is bitten by a centipede ”

“ Newspapers are, it is true, now leavening the whole society; but it is still from the halls that the artisan to-day gets all his knowledge, meagre as it is, and to the same source may be traced his familiarity with the notable events and heroes in the history of his country. In its educating influence, then, the story-teller’s profession is an important one, and though it must be owned that few of his tales are edifying, his confrères in the front rank of their profession deserve better of their countrymen than has hitherto been their lot. ”

“ Emma, Judge of Hades, pulls out every liar’s tongue; insanity befalls him that throws nail-parings or a hair into the fire; poverty is sure to overtake a whistler; he that lies down immediately after a meal will turn into an ox; if we walk round another, we shall be transformed into snakes; one that wastes rice will have bad eyes ”

“ Finding even signboards insufficient to attract customers, these humble professors of divination go out every day to public places to tell fortunes. They are to be seen in public parks, at the approaches to bridges, in the shade of avenues at day-time, or under the eaves of houses at night. ”

“ A just combination of amusement and instruction needs so much tact and judgment that few story-tellers care to attempt it: and most of them prefer dropping into a broad and often senseless farce to making a dry sermon of their tales, which would have the effect of emptying the hall in an instant; but taken even at their own valuation, story-tellers are among the most influential of the multitude who live to please. ”

“ The actual style she adopts differs with the locality of her home and the class of her patrons. Rusticity can never be charged against it; and it is either gay without tawdry or sober without sombreness. It is, however, not only in her dress that the geisha shows her taste; but the style of her hair also excites admiration. There are various styles of coiffure in Japan, the total number known past or present being said to exceed a hundred; but those actually in use are comparatively few if we set aside the slight variations that come into fashion from time to time. ”

“ The umpire’s decision is always received without the least dissent; and to provide against his authority suffering from suspected errors of judgment, he always takes care when a bout ends in a dogfall or is otherwise uncertain or indectsive, to consult the referees; and if they disagree, the opinion of the wrestlers watching on both sides of the arena is also invited. If any doubt still remains, the matter is left to be settled after the day’s matches. The umpire’s accuracy of judgment and absolute impartiality are never called in question. ”

“ If caught in a rain in a dream, there will before long be an invitation to a dinner; if the sun and moon fall, the dreamer’s parents will die; and if a black cloud comes spinning down, there will be an illness in his house. ”

“ They vowed to help the weak, especially of their class, at the risk of their own lives, to pursue the strong till they ran them to earth, and to resent every insult whoever the offender might be, though they were willing to spare him if he instantly entreated pardon. Thus, strong in league and eager for brawls, they often forced quarrels in the street and exercised to the full the samurai’s privilege of killing at will any harmless citizen in their bad books. ”

“ The machi-yakko, or otokodate, were distinguished by their dress, queue, and manner of wearing swords. It was their pride to make light of their own lives and to take up another’s quarrel; their self-imposed mission it was to help the weak and always to defend the oppressed citizen from the military class. ”

“ But by far the most conspicuous and numerous of all are the jinrikisha, or two-wheeled vehicles drawn by men, which, from their great convenience, have obtained a phenomenal popularity, and though three decades have not passed since their first introduction, become more familiar sights than many another institution of much older standing. They are a unique production of the East, for though their birth-place is Tokyo, they are to be seen at all the eastern ports of the Asiatic continent. ”

“ The spectators eat their noon or evening meals at the theatre, or at the teahouse between the acts; but confectionery and sake are freely partaken while the play is going on. Indeed, many male play-goers cannot enjoy a play unless they drink at the same time, and they have often been known to turn their backs upon the stage and, overcome with the sake, add their own music to the gidayu-singer’s. Play-going is, therefore, also an expensive pastime.
It is seldom that a whole day’s performance is taken up by a single play. ”

“ Where acting is a hereditary profession and every first class actor’s name is backed by stage tradition, there are well-marked gradations in the profession, through which every artiste must pass unless he is fortunate enough to be born in the theatrical aristocracy. The members of this aristocracy are called nadai, that is, those who appear on the play-boards over the entrance to their theatre. Their leaders, the great nadai, number only five in Tokyo, including Danjuro and Kikugoro. ”

“ The jimaye is the freest of all. She is her own mistress, and, living in her own house, does just as she pleases. Not so the kakaye, to which class a great majority of geisha belong. Having no means of buying her own dress or renting a house, the kakaye enters service in a geisha-house for a certain term, varying with her age and other circumstances. Her life is far from happy, though much naturally depends upon the disposition of her task-mistress. While she is lodged, boarded, and clothed, she is expected to hand over all her earnings to her mistress. ”

“ Some haunt most frequented resorts, while others take to quiet nooks on the assumption that their customers would more readily unburden themselves in secret places. Some build temporary sheds and some squat on curtained cars, four feet square, while others sit on a camp-stool with a table before them at the road-side. They have by them a few books for show, or diagrams of hands or faces to explain the art of palmistry or physiognomy, or watch for victims with a display of divining blocks and sticks. ”

“ The wrestler’s income from the Ekoin matches is not, therefore, large. There are usually about a hundred candidates every year; but not a few of them are old hands who have hitherto failed to pass the examination at Ekoin. The professional wrestlers in Tokyo number about four hundred, while the total strength of the wrestlers’ guild is close upon six hundred. The wrestler is condemned to menial work when under his elder’s roof; and even when he has risen high enough in his profession to keep house, he still acknowledges the elder as his master and gives him a share of his earnings. ”

“ Notwithstanding the good work done by fire-engines, the old-style fireman’s duties are still very important in a city of wooden structures like Tokyo. He is also interesting because, in spite of his deterioration, he still partially retains that spirit of old Yedo which found its fullest expression in the otokodate, a class of men who arose to protect their fellow-citizens from the oppression of the samurai. Tokugawa Iyeyasu, upon his accession to the Shogunate, felt uneasy as he knew many daimyo were ready at the first opportunity to revolt ”

“ Fortune-tellers, especially of the street, are the favourite butt of professional story-tellers. Anecdotes of their wily ways are numerous. They all turn upon the ambiguous advice they give their clients. An interesting instance from real life is that of a fortune-teller who lives not far from the Tokyo Rice Exchange. ”

“ In Tokyo they are at present absolutely indispensable and their abolition would not only throw thousands of men out of employment in the city, but would even paralyze its activity. In such vogue are they that the people of Tokyo have ceased to be the good pedestrians that their fathers were and their country cousins still are, and its young men cannot keep pace with the sexagenarians who in their prime thought nothing of covering forty miles in a single day. The jinrikisha has, in fact, become a necessity and a luxury. ”

“ Eki is the most commonly practised of all and the divining blocks and sticks lend an imposing appearance to the diviner’s table. Next to eki, palmistry, physiognomy, horoscopy, and divination by handwriting are most in fashion and often practised by one and the same man. The most skilled or popular professors of these arts live in affluence; they have servants to usher their customers into the divining hall, and put on an air of no little importance. But a majority of fortune-tellers live in courts and back-alleys, and hang out signboards in the front street. ”

“ A theatre was formerly open from dawn till close upon midnight. Women usually made preparations over night for going thither and even sat up all night so as not to be caught asleep at dawn when the drum summoned them to the theatre. But in Tokyo the Metropolitan Police Board restricted nine years ago the maximum duration of a performance to eight hours, to the great dissatisfaction of the confirmed play-goers who consider themselves cheated of their money’s worth by this limitation. In the country, however, the good old leisurely hours appear to be still retained. ”

“ If a daimyo, about to go up to the Castle of Yedo, return to his province, or visit a shrine or temple, required a retinue of yakko to guard him against the hatamoto, he sent word to the machi-yakko, who instantly supplied him with the desired number of followers. Thus the machi-yakko waged war with the hatamoto both directly and by providing the daimyo with his men. It was, therefore, necessary to hold in readiness a large army of adherents; and to keep them always under his eye, he met them nightly at his gambling resorts. ”

“ As first-rate story-tellers are comparatively few, these variety entertainments are the rule in the rakugoka’s halls in Tokyo. Story tellers, however, prefer where possible to employ their own disciples from pecuniary considerations as well as for the sake of the obvious advantages of their close relations in the management of the company. A story-teller opens a hall usually on the understanding that the entrance-charges be divided equally between himself and the proprietor of the hall, though if he is a public favourite, he can command a larger share. ”

“ ON THE STAGE.
tedious when the actor on the stage has to exaggerate and prolong his emotions to fit in with the music and song of the gidayu-singer. His originality is smothered by time-honoured conventionalities.
The prompter appears in a strange form in the Japanese theatre. There are to be seen flitting about on the stage men clothed in black and with black veils over their faces. These “blackamoors,” as they are called, are supposed by a stage fiction to be invisible. They squat or stand behind the actors they prompt during the first days of a play. ”

“ The tyro is set to wrestle in the elder’s private ring with other pupils like himself, and it is only by dint of practice that he acquires any knowledge of the art, the great requisite of which is to be cool and prompt under all circumstances; and by wrestling with others more skilled than himself, he is left to discover from actual experience all its principles. When the elder thinks the beginner has mastered its rudiments, he applies to the guild for permission to send him to the Ekoin matches. ”

“ Wrestlers are divided into two sides, the East and the West, between which matches always take place. Either side has its champion with his two assistants. These sides are rearranged at the close of every run at Ekoin; and wrestlers frequently change sides when the guild makes up the list. The East side is considered stronger than the other; and this change of sides is frequently necessary to keep them well-balanced.
There is further a small class of men whose duty is to announce the names of the contestants before every bout, and at the same time to call out those wrestlers into the arena ”

“ The wrestlers form a guild with two other classes of men intimately connected with their profession, the elders and umpires. Elders are retired wrestlers or umpires of high grade, and take part in the management of the guild. No one can become a wrestler without being articled to an elder, whose recommendation is necessary for his appearance at Ekoin and his entrance into the guild. Elders are subdivided into two classes, those who do, and those who do not, contribute towards the expenses of the Ekoin matches. ”

“ The third and last class of geisha is the tataki-wake, who has money and ability enough to set up on her own account, but is in want of an effective introduction to the teahouses of the locality where she is a stranger. She, therefore, puts herself under the ægis of a geisha of established reputation, with whom she lives, and agrees in return to share her earnings equally with her mentor. She is almost as free as a jimaye, except that she must earn enough to bring a fair profit to the house, though she entails on it no expense beyond her board. ”