Japan and the Japanese illustrated . grecil upon, trace out a reserved space by means oflong pieces of stuff stretched on poles. AVithin this they lay down mats. Stoves areprepared, with kettles for making tea, and pans for frying fish. The company arriveand install themselves, the ladies unpacking the provisions, and the festival begins. Itlasts until sunset; games, singing, and music, animate the scene. Sometimes professional z z 2 356 LIFE IN JAPAN. singers are summoned to the festival, and occasionally even a couple of wanderingdancers, whose speciality consists of pantomime, posturing, an
Japan and the Japanese illustrated . grecil upon, trace out a reserved space by means oflong pieces of stuff stretched on poles. AVithin this they lay down mats. Stoves areprepared, with kettles for making tea, and pans for frying fish. The company arriveand install themselves, the ladies unpacking the provisions, and the festival begins. Itlasts until sunset; games, singing, and music, animate the scene. Sometimes professional z z 2 356 LIFE IN JAPAN. singers are summoned to the festival, and occasionally even a couple of wanderingdancers, whose speciality consists of pantomime, posturing, and character figures. Oneof their prettiest performances is called the fan-dance; it is a kind of pantomime,generally executed by a young girl in the costume of a page. There are also somenational dances kept up in the society of the town, and these naturally have a placeamong the diversions of the country jjarties. Generally, ladies dance alone; theyform a quadrille, and the dance consists principally of gestures, without any change. \^\\:^^^ :\;^^^vS^N^^^i^:$$^^>^$$^$^ THE FAN-DANCE. of position, except in passing from one attitude to another. They stretch out theirhands and arms; sometimes the right, and sometimes the left, not without o-race orelegance, hut the movement is exceedingly monotonous. A man never dances, exceptwhen, inspired by the fumes of saki, he imitates some choreographic feat which hohas witnessed upon the stage. But, as I have already said, it is not only pleasure which attracts the citizen tothe groves of Inaka; he loves the place for its own sake; he knows it under allaspects and in all seasons; he knows its curiosities and peculiarities, its local kermesscs, THE GROVES OF INAKA. 357 its annual markets, at whicli he purchases a part of his household provisions. He goesto the public auctions of rice, vegetables, fruits, and coal, which take place at fixed periodsin certain rural districts; he also goes to see the antique cedar on which he has paintedth
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidjapanjapanes, bookyear1874
