the new year

the san-ga-nichi, or "three days" of the new year, is one of the most important of the japanese festivals, for the japanese make far more of the new year than we do in this country. they regard the first three days of the year as a fitting occasion when it is most important to insure good luck and happiness for the days that follow, and in order to bring this about many quaint and ancient observances take place. before the houses are decorated a thorough winter cleaning is carried out. "in ancient times," writes mrs. c. m. salwey, "from the court of the emperor to the hut of the peasant, this attention was observed to such an extent that the shogun's court provided overseers, who visited with ornamented dusting poles, to overhaul the labour of the servants, passing their official brooms over ledges and crevices, and in so doing flourishing in a certain manner their mystic wands to demonstrate the chinese ideograph which signified water." not only is the house thoroughly cleaned and everything put in order, but evil spirits are got rid of by throwing out peas and beans from the open shoji, or paper slides.

on the festival of the new year the houses and gate-posts are adorned with straw ropes, and these are often made to represent such lucky chinese numbers as three, five, and seven. the food chiefly eaten on this occasion comprises lobsters (their bent and ancient appearance suggesting long life), oranges, and certain varieties of edible seaweeds. in addition there are mirror cakes, associated with the sun goddess, and these cakes, composed of rice, are eaten with the oranges and lobster, and served on pure white trays. one other important[pg 221] decoration must not be overlooked, and that is the branches of the pine-tree. these branches symbolise long life, and for some unknown reason they are burnt when the festival is over.

one of the most picturesque customs associated with this festival, and one particularly appealing to children, is the treasure ship with the seven gods of good luck on board, to which we have referred elsewhere.[1]

the boys' festival

the tango no sekku, or boys' festival, takes place on may 5, and is intended to inspire the youth of japan with warlike qualities. it is the day when flags are to be seen in every direction, when the roofs of the houses are decorated with the leaves of iris, so that nature's flag and the flag made by human hands are both conspicuous on this joyous festival, which is popularly known as the feast of flags. boys are presented with small figures representing certain great heroes of the past, while ancient swords, bows, arrows, spears, &c., are handed down from one generation of children to another.

perhaps the dominant feature of this festival is the paper flag shaped like a carp. it is hollow, and when inflated with wind has the appearance of vigorously flying through the air. the carp symbolises something more than the crude spirit of warfare, for it typifies tenacity of purpose and indomitable courage. as the carp swims against the stream, so is the japanese youth expected to fight against all the fierce currents of adversity. this idea is probably derived from the fascinating chinese legend of the dragon carp which, after a long struggle, succeeded in swimming past the dragon gate rapids, lived a thousand years, and finally rose into the sky.

[pg 222]

the festival of the dead

the festival of the dead, or bommatsuri, deserves mention here because it contains much that is legendary. the japanese peasant's conception of a future life is not a very delightful one. at death the body is washed and shaven and then arrayed in a pure white garment—indeed, in the garment of a pilgrim. round the neck is hung a wallet containing three or six rin, according to the custom of the place in which the death occurs, and these rin are buried with the deceased. the idea of burying coin with the dead is to be found in the belief that all who die, children alone excepted, must journey to the sanzu-no-kawa, or "the river of the three roads." on the bank of this dismal river sodzu-baba, the old woman of the three roads, awaits the coming of souls, together with her husband, ten datsu-ba. if three rin are not paid to the old woman she takes away the white garments of the dead and, regardless of entreaties, hangs them on trees. then there is the no less formidable emma-Ō, the lord of the dead; and when we add to these dread figures some of the terrors of the buddhist hells it is not surprising that the gentle and poetical japanese should have founded a festival that will afford a pleasant, if all too brief, respite from the horrors of hades.

the festival takes place from july 13 to 15. at such a time most of the houses are mere skeletons, being open to the summer breeze on all sides. people saunter about in the lightest of garments. butterflies and dragon-flies disport in countless numbers, flying over a cool stretch of lotus or settling on the purple petal of an iris. fuji rears her great head into the clear blue sky, bearing like a white scarf a patch of fast-fading snow.

[pg 223]

when the morning of the 13th arrives new mats of rice straw are spread upon all buddhist altars and on the little household shrines. every japanese home on that day is provided with a quaint, minute meal in readiness for the great company of ghosts.

at sunset the streets are bright with the flames of torches, and the entrances of houses gay with brightly coloured lanterns. those to whom this festival applies in a particular sense and not in a general one—that is to say, those who have recently lost some dear one—go out on this night to the cemeteries, and there pray, make offerings, burn incense, and pour out water. lanterns are lit and bamboo vases filled with flowers.

on the evening of the 15th the ghosts of the circle of penance or gakido are fed, and in addition those ghosts who have no friends among the living to care for them. there is a legend bearing upon this particular phase of the festival of the dead. dai-mokenren, a great disciple of buddha, was once permitted to see the soul of his mother in the gakido. he grieved so much on account of intense suffering that he gave her a bowl containing choice food. every time she tried to eat the food would suddenly turn into fire, and finally to ashes. then mokenren asked buddha to tell him what he could do to ease his mother's suffering. he was told to feed the ghosts of the great priests of all countries "on the fifteenth day of the seventh month." when this had been done mokenren returned, to find his mother dancing for joy. in this happy dance after much tribulation we trace the origin of the bon-odori, which takes place on the third night of the festival.

when the evening of the third day arrives preparations are made for the departure of the ghosts. thousands of little boats are packed with food and loving messages of farewell. into these boats step the[pg 224] departing ghosts. loving hands set these frail craft upon river, lake, or sea. a small lantern glows at the prow, while pale blue clouds of incense float up from the stern. hearn writes: "down all the creeks and rivers and canals the phantom fleets go glimmering to the sea; and all the sea sparkles to the horizon with the lights of the dead, and the sea wind is fragrant with incense."

there is a pathetic charm about this festival. it is by no means unique, for it corresponds to the indian sraddha; but in japan it is touched with a more delicate and haunting beauty. no one has been able to solve conclusively the origin of the torii, that wonderful gateway that leads nowhere. what a charming entrance or exit for a company of wandering souls! what a place for ghosts to play and dream awhile is a japanese garden, with its lake and moon-shaped bridge, its stone lantern, its paths of silver sand! and what a street for ghosts to wander in is the street everlasting that is so near to the street of aged men! thus yone noguchi sums up the magic of a japanese night, one of those three nights when souls come in touch with old earthly memories:

"the scented purple breezes of the japanese night!

the old moon like a fairy ship of gold

softly through the dream sea begins to rock on:

(i hear the unheard song of beauty in the moon ship,

i hear even the whisper of her golden dress.)

the hundred lanterns burning in love and prayer,

float on the streets like haunting memories.

the silvery music of wooden clogs of the japanese girls!

are they not little ghosts out of the bosom of ancient age?

are they returning to fulfil their thousand fancies forgotten?

o the fancy world of the japanese night

born out of the old love and unfulfilled desires!

the crying love-song of the japanese night,

the samisen music of hungry passion and tears!

o the long wail of heart through the darkness and love!"

[pg 225]

the laughing festival of wasa

numerous other japanese festivities take place during the year, and two, the festival of dolls and the festival of tanabata, the weaving maiden, have been referred to elsewhere. perhaps in some way the laughing festival of wasa is the most quaint of all the japanese festivities. during the month of october a number of old men form a procession carrying two boxes full of oranges and persimmons spitted on sticks. these old men are followed by children with similar fruit on bamboo rods. just as the leader reaches the shrine he turns round and makes a most ludicrous grimace, which is immediately followed by a merry peal of laughter, and this irresistible merriment has its origin in the following legend.

in the month of october the gods used to assemble in a great temple at izumo, and they met for the purpose of arranging the love-affairs of the people. when the gods were sitting in the temple one of them said: "where is miwa daimyo-jin?" all the gods looked everywhere for him, but he was not to be found. now miwa daimyo-jin was extremely deaf, and, owing to this defect, he had mistaken the great day when the gods met together. when he reached izumo the meeting had been dissolved, and all the gods laughed very much when they heard about it, a laughter that is imitated year by year in the laughing festival to which we have referred.

the torii

we have referred in this chapter and elsewhere to the torii, and though authorities agree to differ in regard to its use and origin, the theme is a fascinating one and well worthy of study. according to a popular[pg 226] account the word torii means "fowl-dwelling" or "bird-rest." on the top beam of this imposing gateway the fowls heralded the approach of dawn, and in their cry bade the priests attend to their early morning prayers. in one legend we are informed that the sun descends to earth in the form of the ho-ho bird, messenger of love, peace, and goodwill, and rests upon one of the torii.

professor b. h. chamberlain regards the "bird-rest" etymology and the theories derived from it as erroneous, and believes that the torii came originally from asia. he writes, in things japanese: "the koreans erect somewhat similar gateways at the approach of their royal palaces; the chinese p'ai lou, serving to record the virtues of male or female worthies, seem related in shape as well as in use; and the occurrence of the word turan in northern india and of the word tori in central india, to denote gateways of strikingly cognate appearance, gives matter for reflection." dr. w. g. aston also believes that the torii came from abroad, "but holds that it was fitted with a pre-existing name, which would have originally designated 'a lintel' before it came to have its present sacred associations."[2]

in regard to the construction of these gateways, mrs. c. m. salwey writes: "the oldest torii of japan ... were constructed of plain unvarnished wood. in fact, they were built of straight, upright trunks of trees in their natural state, though sometimes bereft of the outer bark. later on the wood was painted a deep, rich vermilion, possibly to heighten the effect when the background was densely wooded." though the torii was originally associated with shintoism, it was later on adopted by the buddhists, who considerably altered its simple but beautiful construction by turning up the[pg 227] corners of the horizontal beams, supplying inscriptions and ornaments of various kinds.

"the footstool of the king"

whatever the origin and significance of the shinto torii may be, no one will deny its exquisite beauty, and many will agree in believing it to be the most perfect gateway in the world. perhaps the most wonderful torii is the one that stands before the itsukushima shrine on the island of myajima, and it is called "the footstool of the king," "the gateway of light," or "the water gate of the sacred island."

mrs. salwey writes: "is not this gateway the symbol of the right direction, according to the dogmas of the shinto cult, the goal towards which the face should be turned—'the way of the gods.' are they not monitors writing their mystic message as an ideographic sign over the lord of the gods before the rising and setting sun, enhancing by their presence the dense luxuriance of cryptomerian avenue, reflecting within dark, still rivers or the silver ripples of the inland sea?" we must be content with this pleasing interpretation of the symbolism of the torii, for it takes us through the gate of conflicting theories, and gives us something more satisfying than the ramifications of etymology.

[1] chapter vii.: "legend in japanese art."

[2] things japanese, by professor b. h. chamberlain.