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The

Japanese New Year's Festival,

Games and Pastimes

BY

HELEN C. GUNSAULUS
Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

CHICAGO

1923

Field Museum of Natural History

Department of Anthropology

Chicago, 1923
Leaflet Number 11

The Japanese New Year's Festival,
Games and Pastimes

The Japanese prints with which we are most
familiar in this country are those known as nishikiye,
literally "brocade picture." Generally speaking, they
are portraits of actors and famous beauties or land-
scapes and nature studies. There are, however, other
woodcuts known as surimono, "things printed," whose
subjects are characters known in history and folk-
lore, household gods, incidents in the daily life of the
people and the celebration of certain festivals, par-
ticularly that of the New Year. From a careful study
of these prints we may become acquainted with many
of the most distinctive customs of Japan.

Though produced by the same process as that
used for the nishikiye, surimono may be easily dis-
tinguished from the former. In addition to the series
of wood blocks used to print the outline and colors of
the design, surimono are often enriched by the appli-
cation of metal dusts and embossing. The decorative
motive is usually interpreted or accompanied by a
poem or series of poems written in the picture. These
prints were not made for sale but were exchanged as
gifts among poets and artists on certain occasions,
such as feasts, birthdays, theatrical or literary meet-
ings, and especially as cards of greeting presented at
the opening of the New Year. The surimono in the

[21]

2 Field Museum of Natural History

collection in Field Museum of Natural History were
selected primarily with the view of illustrating the
customs and mode of living of the people of Japan
rather than of assembling together pictures which
would be enjoyed for their aesthetic appeal. While
these prints are of an artistic nature, they are valuable
to an institution of this kind as approaches to the
study of the ethnology of Japan. The Museum is in
possession of a collection of three hundred and sixty
prints which has been divided into four groups, in the
first of which the New Year's festival and certain
games and pastimes are pictured to a considerable de-
gree. This selection is hung each year in Gunsaulus
Hall (Room 30, Second Floor) from January 1st to
April 1st, when it is succeeded by another group.

THE NEW YEAR'S FESTIVAL

Of the many festivals enjoyed in Japan, none is
attended with more ceremony than that which opens
with the New Year and is celebrated with more or less
formality for fourteen days. It was customary in the
old days to celebrate the New Year at the time when
the plum first blossomed and when winter began to
soften into spring, somewhere between the middle of
January and the middle of February. Since the
adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this festival
opens on January 1st, and is attended by many of the
interesting ceremonies that were practised in former
times. On the thirteenth day of the preceding month,
a special stew (okotojiru) is made from red beans,
potatoes, mushrooms, sliced fish and a root (kon-
nyaku) . About this time a cleaning of the house takes
place. It is partly ceremonial and partly practical,
and is known as "soot-sweeping" (susu-haraki) .
Servants are presented with gifts of money and a
short holiday.

[22]

The Japanese New Year's Festival 3

According to the lunar calendar, the New Year's
celebration was opened by the ceremony known as
oniyarai, "demon-driving." This occurred at Setsu
bun, the period when winter passed into spring, and
to-day it is generally practised at that time and is
quite independent of the New Year's festival. In
some sections of the country, however, it has been
moved forward to New Year's eve, December 31st.
As may be seen in the first illustration, this ceremony
consists of the scattering of parched beans in four
directions in the house, crying at the same time, "Out
with the devils, in with the good luck." Though
sometimes performed by a professional who goes from
door to door, this office is generally carried on by the
head of the family. The custom may be traced back
to ancient days when the demons expelled personified
the wintry influences and the diseases attendant on
them. It is still customary in some regions to gather
up beans equal in number to the age plus one, and
wrap them with a coin in a paper which has been
previously rubbed over the body, to transfer ill luck.
This package is then flung away at a cross-roads, with
the idea that thereby ill luck is gotten rid of. Again
in other places some of the beans are saved and eaten
at the time of the first thunder.

In Fig. 2 other interesting steps in the celebration
may be studied. Certain preparations for the demon-
expelling ceremony are being made. A woman who
stands near a stove is parching the beans in a flat pan.
At her feet the box for the beans rests upon a low
stand of the form known as sambo, that used as the
support for all ceremonial arrangements on festive
occasions. It is made of cypress wood ; in this case it
is lacquered red but when holding offerings for the
gods, it is left unstained. It will be noticed that there
is a charm stuck in at the upper corner of the open

[23]

4 Field Museum of Natural History

door in this picture. It is composed of a branch of
holly on which is impaled the head of a sardine. This
charm, which is always placed in the lintel after the
demons have been driven out, is said to be repellent
to evil influences and the prickly holly has the prop-
erty of keeping demons from reentering the house.

Immediately over the woman's head hangs one
of the most conspicuous objects associated with
the New Year's festival. It is the straw rope (shi-
menawa) which is stretched before the entrance at
the front of the house, to remain during all the days
of the celebration, and keep out all evil spirits.
Smaller straw ropes are placed over inner doorways
and before the household shrine or god -shelf (kami-
dana) . They are also to be seen on the posts of cer-
tain bridges, particularly the Gojobashi in Kyoto. The
shimenawa is always made of straw twisted to the
left, the pure or fortunate side, with pendant straws
at regular intervals but of differing numbers in the
order three, five, seven, along the whole length of the
strand. Alternating with these pendants are leaves
of the fern, urajiro. Since the fern-fronds spring in
pairs from the stem, this plant is symbolic of happy
married life and increase. The lanciform leaves at-
tached to the straw rope in this picture, are those of
a laurel-like shrub called yuzuri. This plant has been
adopted as the symbol of a long united family because
the old leaves cling to the branch after the young ones
have appeared. Other objects with specific meanings
are often attached to the rope, the most common being
paper cuttings (gohei) which represent the offerings
of cloth made to the gods in ancient times. Occasion-
ally tied to the rope are little bundles of charcoal
(sumi) which, because of its changeless color, sym-
bolizes changelessness.

The origin of the use of shimenawa on New
Year's day may be traced back to mythological times

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when the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, was tempted forth
from the cave into which, through fear of her brother,
she had retired. In order to entice her from her hid-
ing place, all the gods assembled together and, bring-
ing with them a dancer, made such a commotion that
the "heavenly ancestor of the emperor" peeped out.
Her face was reflected in a mirror which they had
hung upon a tree. Never before had she gazed upon
her own beauty, and thinking it the countenance of a
rival, she stepped forth. She was prevented from
returning by a fellow deity who stretched a straw rope
across the opening of her retreat. During her re-
tirement all the earth had been in darkness. As she
emerged, the warm light of the sun spread over the
world and joy returned to the people.

A survival of the belief in this legend is to be
seen to this day at a certain spot on the shore of
Owari Bay. There, at Futami, two tower-like rocks,
known at the "Husband and Wife Rocks" (Myoto-
seki) jut out of the waves close to the beach. They are
joined together by a straw rope which some say rep-
resents the bond of conjugal union. Others see in it
a hindrance against the entrance of the Plague God.
However, these rocks are popularly thought to rep-
resent the cave into which the Sun Goddess retired.
On this account many people journey to Myoto-seki
before dawn on New Year's day, in order to see the
first rays of the sun emerge on the horizon between
these two rocks, thereby witnessing the re-appearance
of the Sun Goddess who is restrained by the shi-
menawa from re-entering her retreat.

The fern leaves and yuzuriha, attached to the
straw rope, are also in evidence on certain ceremonial
arrangements which are to be seen in all households
on New Year's day. Two such objects are illustrated
in Fig. 3. They are called o kazari mono, "honorably

[25]

6 Field Museum of Natural History

decorated thing." Both of these stands of sambo form
are laid with paper covers on which are placed rice
puddings (mochi) of various forms. Those on the
stand at the left are large, flat and round, in shape
representing the mirror into which Amaterasu looked
when she came forth from the cave. Again they
symbolize the sun, the yo or male principle, and the
moon, the in or female principle. They are adorned
with two fern leaves, a folded paper arrangement
(called noshi) and a bitter orange (daidai) to which
are attached two yuzuri leaves. The Japanese are
devoted to puns on words. Daidai-yuzuri, in pronun-
ciation, is identical with the phrase which means
"bequeath from generation to generation," hence the
adoption of the bitter orange with the yuzuri leaves
in the New Year's decoration. Dried chestnut kernels
(kachiguri) are often added to the arrangement, for
the name suggests the happy thought of victory
(kachi). The second stand which holds rice puddings
is surmounted by a branch of pine, one of the well-
known emblems of longevity. The pine, bamboo and
plum are arranged together for this occasion and are
known as sho-chiku-bai. At the base of the pine in
Fig. 3 and lying on fern leaves, is a lobster. On ac-
count of the bent back and long tentacles it typifies
a life so prolonged that the body is bent over and
the beard reaches to the waist. A lobster or cray-
fish is often seen hanging to the center of the straw
rope.

In the background of this picture, a set of bows
and arrows used for indoor practice may be seen
leaning against a basket filled with square rice cakes.
In the foreground, a woman is seated before a chop-
ping board on which she cuts the rice cakes into small
pieces. Being small and hard, these bits are known as
"hail mochi." In some parts of Japan, it is customary

[26]

The Japanese New Year's Festival 7

to eat them on the third day of the festival. A com-
panion who holds up a picture of the Sun Goddess,
is seated near a lantern, on the base of which rests
a waterpot. It is likely that this vessel contains the
"young water" (hatsumizu) used for the New Year's
tea (fuku cha, "good luck tea"). Custom decrees
that this water must be drawn from the well before
the sun's rays strike it. An offering of rice is some-
times first thrown into the well. With the tea is
served a preserved plum (umeboshi), which, because
of its wrinkled skin, suggests the hope of a good old
age. In addition, there is always served on this fes-
tive day a fish stew known as zoni, and a special spiced
brand of wine called toso. In some households the first
day is devoted entirely to family devotion. Before
the ancestral shrine offerings of tea, mirror dump-
lings, zoni and toso are placed, and then each living
member is served in order of age with the same
viands. With the same respect for age, New Year's
greetings are spoken first to the shrine, then to grand-
parents and parents and so on down to the smallest
child.

As we leave the house and go outdoors, we see
before all portals the "pine of the doorway" (kado
matsu) — pine and bamboo saplings bound together
and set up at either side of the entrance. The pine
on the left has a red trunk and is of the species
akamatsu (pinus densifiora) ; that on the right has
a black trunk and is the kuro-matsu (pinus thun-
bergii) . Fancy has attributed to the lighter pine, the
feminine sex, while the black pine is thought to rep-
resent the masculine. Between these kadomatsu is
usually hung the straw rope previously described. The
two plants, the pine and bamboo, have no religious
significance but are emblematic of longevity and fidel-
ity. Long life and vigor are naturally suggested by

[27]

8 Field Museum of Natural History

the old and gnarled evergreens; the reason why the
bamboo should typify fidelity is less obvious. It is
again a case of a similar pronunciation of two Chinese
characters : setsu meaning fidelity and setsu denoting
the node of the bamboo. A kado-matsu is pictured
in the fourth illustration where in the foreground two
boys, bound together with a rope are testing their
strength. This common pastime for boys is called
kubi hiki. A third child, acting as umpire, holds in
his hand a kite in the shape of a bird.

The streets during the New Year's festival are
veritable playgrounds; stilt walking, rope pulling and
jumping, top spinning and ball playing are all in-
dulged in. Kite-flying is perhaps the most conspicuous
sport, for kites of many shapes and sizes are sent up
by all lads on these days. In Japan kite-flying is not
only more picturesque than with us, on account of the
use of such fantastic forms as double fans, birds,
butterflies, cuttlefish or huge portraits of heroes in
brilliant colors and unusual proportions, but it is also
apt to be a very exciting sport. Occasionally oppo-
nents try to capture an enemy's kite. Competitive
kite-flying is accomplished by covering the first ten or
twenty feet of the kite string with fish glue or rice
paste, and then dipping it into pounded glass or por-
celain. On hardening, this portion of the string be-
comes a series of tiny blades which when crossed with
another string at high tension can soon saw away the
kite of the adversaiy. It is also customary to attach
a strip of whale bone or a bow of bamboo to the large
kites, so that on ascending a loud humming is pro-
duced which adds to the excitement of the flight. Only
boys and men fly kites in Japan.

The girls, dressed in their best costumes, are pic-
turesque as they play with a hand ball and at battle-
dore and shuttlecock. The balls are made of paper and

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The Japanese New Year's Festival 9

wadding wound with silk of different colors. The
battle boards are of a white wood called kiri and are
often elaborate affairs, adorned on one side with the
portrait of a hero made of colored silks. The shuttle-
cock is composed of the seed of the soapberry, to
which bright feathers are attached. On a surimono
in this exhibition two girls are at play upon a red mat
spread beneath the blossoming plum tree. To one of
the branches is clinging a nightingale, the bird which
heralds the approach of spring. All of the poems on
this surimono treat of the New Year and the night-
ingale's song. One, literally translated, reads,
"Spring's first wind melting the snow, let laugh the
plum, let cry the nightingale." Another rendered in
English is as follows: "Like the comical manner of
a bouncing ball, the nightingale's song rolls (like a
ball) on the plum branch."

Young maidens carrying flat bamboo baskets
make excursions into the country to gather the seven
spring grasses (nanakusa). These greens, the water
drop-wort, shepherd's purse, radish, celery, dead-
nettle, turnip and rock-cress, are the components
which are needed for the celebration of the first of
the five festivals known as Go-sekku. This one occurs
on the seventh day of the first month.

While the young people enjoy these pastimes out
of doors, within the house the older members of the
family indulge in the writing of a New Year's poem
or in playing one of the games described in the next
section of this leaflet. The writing of poems at this
auspicious time is almost universal, indeed, the com-
posing of poetry and the mastery of caligraphy are
considered as necessary accomplishments for the cul-
tured person. The most common form of New Year's
poem is that known as tanka. It is a poem of five
lines, the first and third of which contain five syllables,

[29]

10 Field Museum of Natural History

the other three seven, and is the poem almost always
found on surimono. Poems are often inscribed on
fans as in Fig. 5, where one young woman meditates
over the verse which she has written on a fan. A
companion seated at a writing table, is grinding ink
with one hand and holding with the other a poem
paper (tanzaku). Such long strips are to be seen in
many houses awaiting the New Year's inspiration.
They are sometimes tinted to a soft shade or orna-
mented with appropriate New Year's flowers or with
silver clouds as in this case. One of the poems ac-
companying this surimono is worthy of translation:
"From the window, lighting the brush for the first
writing, the plums' fragrance on the wind is blowing."

On the first day of the year, musicians and dan-
cers proceed from house to house. The musician,
wearing a flat straw hat which partially covers her
face, charms away birds of ill omen with a few strains
played on the samisen. The dancers are either those
known as manzai or are those who enact the lion
dance, a performance adopted from China. (Costumes
used in the lion dance of China may be seen in Case 5,
Hall I, ground floor.) With the majority of families
much of the day is spent in paying visits to friends,
at which times it is customary to present small gifts,
usually of trifling value such as conserves, fruit, fish,
persimmons, herring roe, bean-curd, towels and sim-
ilar articles. Presents are either placed on trays in
ceremonial form or carefully wrapped in paper or
silk and tied with red and white cords.

Accompanying every gift there is always a quiver-
shaped envelope of folded paper called noshi, in which
is inserted a strip of dried haliotis or awabi. This
odd custom, like so many others, has an interesting
significance. The strip of haliotis is symbolic of
long life and durability of affection, because it is

[30]

The Japanese New Year's Festival 11

capable of being stretched to great length. The single
shell of this mollusk also suggests singleness of affec-
tion. In the ancient days when Japan was a nation
of fishermen, a piece of dried awabi was indeed a
valuable gift. In the present use of the noshi and
awabi, some say that the Japanese would recall the
primitive days, thereby preserving the virtue of hu-
mility. Another conspicuous object which is usually
in evidence at New Year's is the small treasure boat
(takarabune) sometimes made of straw and symbol-
izing the coming of the "Seven Gods of Good Luck"
Shichifukujin. Pictures of takarabune are placed be-
neath the pillow with the wish that the New Year's
dream may be a fortunate one.

No work is done on the first day of the festival,
even the sweeping of the house is omitted, lest some
good fortune be scattered to the winds. All stores
are closed to regular business. On the second day a
pretense is made toward returning to normal life.
The musician takes out his instrument, the student
looks into his books, the artist gets out his brushes
and the merchant distributes his goods from gaily
colored handcarts. The storehouse of treasures is
opened and enjoyed on this day as well, rarely on the
first day for fear good fortune and wealth should flee
away. The large mirror dumplings are taken from
the ceremonial stands and from before the family
shrine on the fourth day, and cut into small pieces
known as "teeth-strengtheners." On this day also,
the fire brigades of Tokyo march in procession and
perform gymnastic feats. At early dawn on the sev-
enth day the master of the house, who follows the old
customs closely, arises and goes to the kitchen where
he washes the seven spring herbs (nanakusa) in the
first water drawn from the well. He then chops them
on a board, moving his knife in time with a certain

[31]

12 Field Museum of Natural History

incantation concerned with cheating any birds of ill
omen which might come to the country. The chopped
herbs are boiled in a kind of rice gruel and served
with ceremony at the breakfast. On the eleventh day
the military men used to offer mirror dumplings be-
fore their armor. The long celebration of the festival
is finally brought to a close with the burning of the
kado-niatsn and other decorations on the fourteenth
or fifteenth day of the first month.

GAMES AND PASTIMES

Several of the most popular games of Japan are
represented on surimono and only those games will be
mentioned herein. To those who would study the
subject exhaustively, S. Culin's "Corean Games" is
recommended. With the possible exception of chess
(shogi) , no game is more widely played than go, which
has been erroneously identified with the game gobang,
somewhat similar to our game of checkers. Go, a far
more difficult contest than that European game, was
introduced into Japan from China in the eighth cen-
tury. For generations it has occupied the attention
of the Japanese, there being clubs and schools devoted
to the playing of go. It is played on a square, raised
wooden board on which nineteen straight lines drawn
from one side to the other of the board cross nineteen
other lines drawn at right angles, making three hun-
dred and sixty-one crosses on which the men are
placed. One hundred and eighty white, and one hun-
dred and eighty-one black stones, are used in the
playing. These represent respectively day and night;
the crosses represent three hundred and sixty degrees
of latitude and the central intersection stands for the
primordial principle of the universe. The object of
the game is to capture the opponent's pawns by en-
closing at least three crosses around his stone, and to

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Games and Pastimes 13

cover as much of the table as possible. Military men
have always been devotees to the game of go, seeing
in it the rudimentary tactics necessary for successful
warfare.

Juroku musashi ("sixteen knights") is a favor-
ite New Year's game which is illustrated in Fig. 6.
It is played on a board divided into diagonally-cut
squares. One player holds sixteen round paper pawns
representing sixteen knights; the opponent has but
one large piece known as the general (taisho) which
has the power to capture enemy pieces when they are
immediately on each side of it with a blank space be-
yond. The holder of the smaller pieces seeks to com-
pletely hedge in and thereby capture the big piece.

Sugoroku ("double sixes") is similar to the
European "race-game." It is played with dice and
the succeeding spaces on the board generally repre-
sent the stations of a journey. Brinkley, in his Japan
and China (Vol. VI, p. 56), tells us that this game was
imported from India in the eighth century and was at
first prohibited on account of its gambling character.
Eventually the Buddhist priests took it up and con-
verted it into an instrument for inculcating virtue by
making the spaces on the board represent a ladder of
moral precepts which marked the path to victory.
Sugoroku, with the travel board, is commonly played
by children at New Year's time. The name is also
given to the more difficult game of backgammon which
may be studied in one of the surimono in this museum.
The board on which the game is being played is now
obsolete. It is divided longitudinally into two fields
with an intervening space between. Each field has
twelve narrow subdivisions in which the men are
placed.

Games of cards (karuta from the Spanish carta)
are altogether different from the European card

[33]

14 Field Museum of Natural History

games, though it is commonly supposed, on account of
the derivation of this name, that card playing was in-
troduced in the sixteenth century by Portuguese trav-
elers. It is interesting to note here that card playing
was known in China in the twelfth century. It would
seem that Japan must have made her first contact
with the game through a source other than Spain, for
the majority of the forms and methods of her playing
cards in no way reflect European influence. The fact
that cards are quite often called fuda ("ticket")
would also add in casting doubt on the European
origin. The hana-garuta or "flower cards" which are
widely played are small in size, black on the backs and
adorned on the face with flowers and emblems belong-
ing to the twelve months. A set comprises forty-
eight cards and the values vary from one to twenty
points. The game consists in drawing, playing and
matching in suits or in groups.

In the game of uta garuta ("poem cards"), there
are two hundred cards. One hundred of these are
decorated with portraits of poets and the first two
lines of famous classic verses. These are to be
matched with the corresponding hundred on which
the remaining lines of the poems are inscribed. Of
the many ways of playing uta garuta, chirashi, "spread
out," is the most exciting. The cards bearing the last
part of the poems are laid face up on the floor. Those
inscribed with the first lines are held by the "reader,"
who reads them aloud one by one. The other players
strive to pick up the corresponding card and he who
at the last holds the most is declared winner.

Somewhat similar to uta garuta is the game of
kai awase ("shell matching"). Three hundred and
sixty bivalve shells are used for this game. The two
sides are separated and on the upper half is painted
a portrait of a poet, on the mated shell are the lines

[34]

Games and Pastimes 15

of one of his poems. Other sets have only the poems
inscribed within them, the two first lines being on one
half shell, the remaining lines on the other. The
shells are divided among the players, and as the pic-
tures or first lines are laid upon the mats, the holder
of the corresponding poem places his shell near it.
Some of the old kai awase sets were of great beauty
and were stored in circular lacquer cases of fine work-
manship. This game and the uta garuta naturally
were played only by the cultured classes and were
vehicles for the learning of the classics.

In addition to the kites and battledores, stilts and
hand balls, there are represented in this selection of
surimono other toys for children such as hobby horses,
dolls of paper, swinging bats for ball playing, archery
outfits and the amusements afforded by caged singing
insects and trained mice and monkeys. The older
people likewise have delightful pastimes. As the
season advances they spend much time in enjoying
nature, the viewing of blossoming trees and plants,
the listening to singing insects in the evening, and the
gathering of shells and shell fish at ebb-tide are all
occasions of organized parties in which men as well
as women take keen pleasure. A series of five suri-
mono by Kuniyoshi realistically portrays the joys of
an ebb-tide party.

Most of the musical instruments, which both men
and women enjoy playing, are importations from
China, particularly the lyre (koto), the violin (kokyu)
and the reed organ (sho). The samisen, a three-
stringed guitar, is the popular accompaniment of the
singing girl or geisha ; the koto is played by the more
aristocratic women. Drums of double conical form
(tsuzumi) are to be seen in the hands of both men and
women. Flutes have long been popular with men of
all classes, the wandering minstrel, the court musician

[36]

16 Field Museum of Natural History

and even the courtier himself who delighted to match
the softness of his flute tone with the gentle light of
the moon, or with the voice of the harbinger of spring
as evidenced by the poem on Fig. 7 which reads:
"Like the nightingale's voice above the clouds, hazed
over by the mist, the flute contains sweetness."

Even more aesthetic than the enjoyment of music
are the arts of the ceremonial tea (cha no yu, "hot-
water-tea") and that of flower arrangement {ike-
band), both of which up to a short time ago were
thought to be necessary acquirements for the culti-
vated classes. To each of these sciences many schools
were devoted. Only the barest sketch can here be
given of these subjects to which volumes have been de-
voted. The tea-ceremony to-day is rigorously outlined
by complicated rules as to utensils, order of procedure
and even as to the subjects of conversation indulged
in while in the tea room.

Tea drinking was introduced from China in the
ninth century and at first was practised by the Budd-
hist priests for medicinal purposes and especially as
a means of keeping awake during meditations. In the
fifteenth century meetings for tea drinking were held
in groves and gardens. In an adjoining tea house pic-
tures were shown on these occasions which were
mainly Buddhistic in subject, and most of them of
Chinese origin. Under the great tea-master Rikyu
(sixteenth century) the rules of cha no yu were re-
written. From this time on the ceremony was per-
formed in a small house with a low door through
which the few guests would have to prostrate them-
selves for entrance. The most characteristic traits
of these gatherings were a close sympathy with nature
and a love of simplicity almost amounting to rugged-
ness as expressed in the tea bowls often partially
glazed. Restraint was likewise displayed in the dec-

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Games and Pastimes 17

orations of the room, a simple bamboo flower holder
was preferred to the bronze vase, and a hanging pic-
ture (kakemono) was chosen which would make an
equally quiet appeal, such as a branch in the wind or
an example of fine caligraphy. The occasion became
a time in which to worship purity and refinement.

Like the tea ceremony, the art of flower arrange-
ment (ikebana) developed into a philosophy under the
patronage of the shogun Yoshimasa in the fifteenth
century. For several centuries it has been studied and
cultivated as a refined accomplishment. Miss Averill
in "Japanese Flower Arrangement" tells us that many
of Japan's most celebrated generals have been masters
of this art, finding that it calmed their minds and
made clear their decisions for the field of action. All
of the schools of ikebana, with one exception, are
founded on the same principles. The underlying idea
is to reproduce in the arrangement the effect of grow-
ing plants and to preserve for as long a time as pos-
sible the life of the plants. Arrangements aim to
reflect the season or the occasion. When high winds
prevail in March, branches with unusual curves are
selected and so placed as to suggest strong breezes.
Certain colors are considered unlucky for certain oc-
casions, for example, red suggesting flames is inappro-
priate for house warmings, when white would be the
desirable color in that it suggests water to quench the
fire. An uneven number of flowers are considered
lucky and also much more suggestive of the processes
of nature, where there is seldom found perfect sym-
metry and actual balance. In the arrangements of the
later schools there are always represented three prin-
ciples known in the different groups by diverse names :
"Heaven, Man and Earth;" "Earth, Air and Water;"
or "Father, Mother and Child." The three main
sprays of an arrangement represent in their directions

[37]

18 Field Museum of Natural History

of growth these three principles, and are designated:
"standing, growing, running." Subsidiary branches in
the selection are called attributes. As may be seen in
Fig. 8, an arrangement is first composed in the hands,
care being taken that all branches be kept close to-
gether at the base so as to form "the parent stalk".
The young man in the picture holds in his mouth a
support for bracing the flowers in the bronze vase, on
the floor are scissors. A woman is approaching with a
waterpot. Such a refined pastime as ikebana is pri-
marily intended to entertain visitors who may con-
template the finished arrangement as it is set up in
the raised portion (tokonoma) of the main room.

Helen C. Gunsaulus

[38]