Lafcadio Hearn's Japan (34 page)

7
.
Nandina domestica
.

8
. The most lucky of all dreams, they say in Izumo, is a dream of Fuji, the Sacred Mountain. Next in order of good omen is dreaming of a falcon
(taka).
The third best subject for a dream is the eggplant
(nasubi).
To dream of the sun or of the moon is very lucky; but it is still more so to dream of stars. For a young wife it is most fortunate to dream of
swallowing a star:
this signifies that she will become the mother of a beautiful child. To dream of a cow is a good omen; to dream of a horse is lucky, but it signifies traveling. To dream of rain or fire is good. Some dreams are held in Japan, as in the West, “to go by contraries.” Therefore to dream of having one's house burned up, or of funerals, or of being dead, or of talking to the ghost of a dead person, is good. Some dreams which are good for women mean the reverse when dreamed by men; for example, it is good for a woman to dream that her nose bleeds, but for a man this is very bad. To dream of much money is a sign of loss to come. To dream of the
koi,
or of any fresh-water fish, is the most unlucky of all. This is curious, for in other parts of Japan the koi is a symbol of good fortune.

9
.
Tebushukan: Citrus sarkodactilis
.

10
.
Yuzuru
signifies to resign in favor of another;
ha
signifies a leaf. The botanical name, as given in Hepburn's dictionary, is
Daphniphilum macropodum
.

11
.
Cerasus pseudo-cerasus
(Lindley).

12
. About this mountain cherry there is a humorous saying which illustrates the Japanese love of puns. In order fully to appreciate it, the reader should know that Japanese nouns have no distinction of singular and plural. The word
ha,
as pronounced, may signify either “leaves” or “teeth”; and the word
hana,
either “flowers” or “nose.” The yamazakura puts forth its ha (leaves) before its hana (flowers). Wherefore a man whose ha (teeth) project in advance of his hana (nose) is called a yamazakura. Prognathism is not uncommon in Japan, especially among the lower classes.

13
. “If one should ask you concerning the heart of a true Japanese, point to the wild cherry flower glowing in the sun.”

14
. There are three noteworthy varieties: one bearing red, one pink and white, and one pure white flowers.

15
. The expression
yanagi-goshi,
“a willow-waist,” is one of several in common use comparing slender beauty to the willow-tree.

16
.
Peonia albiflora
. The name signifies the delicacy of beauty. The simile of the
botan
(the tree peony) can be fully appreciated only by one who is acquainted with the Japanese flower.

17
. Some say keshiyuri (poppy) instead of himeyuri. The latter is a graceful species of lily,
Lilium callosum
.

18
. “Standing, she is a shakuyaku; seated, she is a botan; and the charm of her figure in walking is the charm of a himeyuri.”

19
. In the higher classes of Japanese society to-day, the honorific
O
is not, as a rule, used before the names of girls, and showy appellations are not given to daughters. Even among the poor respectable classes, names resembling those of geisha, etc., are in disfavor. But those above cited are good, honest, every-day names.

20
. Mr. Satow has found in Hirata a belief to which this seems to some extent akin,—the curious ShintM doctrine “according to which a divine being throws off portions of itself by a process of fissure, thus producing what are called waki-mi-tama,—parted spirits, with separate functions.” The great god of Izumo, Oho-kuni-nushi-no-Kami, is said by Hirata to have three such “parted spirits:” his rough spirit
(ara-mi-tama)
that punishes, his gentle spirit
(nigi-mi-tama)
that pardons, and his benedictory or beneficent spirit
(saki-mi-tama)
that blesses. There is a ShintM story that the rough spirit of this god once met the gentle spirit without recognizing it.

21
. Perhaps the most impressive of all the Buddhist temples in KyMto. It is dedicated to Kwannon of the Thousand Hands, and is said to contain 33,333 of her images.

22
.
Daidaimushi
in Izumo. The dictionary word is
dedemushi
. The snail is supposed to be very fond of wet weather; and one who goes out much in the rain is compared to a snail,—
dedemushi no yona
.

23
. “Snail, snail, put out your horns a little: it rains and the wind is blowing, so put out your horns, just for a little while.”

24
. A Buddhist divinity, but within recent times identified by Shint
ō
with the god Kotohira.

25
. See Professor Chamberlain's version of it in the Japanese Fairy-Tale Series, with charming illustrations by a native artist.

26
. “Butterfly, little butterfly, light upon the
na
leaf. But if thou dost not like the
na
leaf, light, I pray thee, upon my hand.”

27
.
B
ō
shi
means “a hat”;
tsukeru,
“to put on.” But this etymology is more than doubtful.

28
. Some say
“Choko-choko-uisu.”
“Uisu” would be pronounced in English very much like “weece,” the final
u
being silent. “Ui
ō
su” would be something like “we-oce.”

29
. Pronounced almost as “geece.”

30
. Contraction of
kore naru
.

31
. A kindred legend attaches to the shiwan, a little yellow insect, which preys upon cucumbers. The shiwan is said to have been once a physician, who, being detected in an amorous intrigue, had to fly for his life. But as he went his foot caught in a cucumber vine, so that he fell and was overtaken and killed, and his ghost became an insect, the destroyer of cucumber vines.

In the zoological mythology and plant mythology of Japan there exist many legends offering a curious resemblance to the old Greek tales of meta-morphoses. Some of the most remarkable bits of such folk-lore have originated, however, in comparatively modern time. The legend of the crab called heikegani, found at Nagato, is an example. The souls of the Taira warriors who perished in the great naval battle of Dan-no-ura (now Seto-Naikai), 1185, are supposed to have been transformed into heikegani. The shell of the heikegani is certainly surprising. It is wrinkled into the likeness of a grim face, or rather into exact semblance of one of those black iron visors, or masks, which feudal warriors wore in battle, and which were shaped like frowning visages.

32
. “Come, firefly, I will give you water to drink. The water of that place is bitter; the water here is sweet.”

33
. By
honzon
is here meant the sacred kakemono, or picture, exposed to public view in the temples only upon the birthday of the Buddha, which is the eighth day of the old fourth month.
Honzon
also signifies the principal image in a Buddhist temple.

34
. “A solitary voice! / Did the moon cry? / 'Twas but the hoto-togisu.”

35
. “When I gaze towards the place where I heard the hototogisu cry, lo! there is naught save the wan morning moon.”

36
. “Save only the morning moon, none heard the heart's-blood cry of the hototogisu.”

37
. A sort of doughnut made of bean flour, or tofu.

38
. “Kite, kite, let me see you dance, and to-morrow evening, when the crows do not know, I will give you a rat.”

39
. “O tardy crow, hasten forward! Your house is all on fire. Hurry to throw water upon it. If there be no water, I will give you. If you have too much, I will give it to your child. If you have no child, then give it back to me.”

40
. The words
papa
and
mamma
exist in Japanese baby language, but their meaning is not at all what might be supposed.
Mamma,
or, with the usual honorific,
O-mamma,
means “boiled rice.”
Papa
means “tobacco.”

Three Popular Ballads
(
Kokoro,
1896)

1
. Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan, October 17, 1894.

2
. Since the time this letter to the
Mail
was written, a primary school has been established for the
yama-no-mono,
through the benevolence of Matsué citizens superior to prejudice. The undertaking did not escape severe local criticism, but it seems to have proved successful.

3
. Daikoku is the popular God of Wealth. Ebisu is the patron of labor. See, for the history of these deities, an article (translated) entitled “The Seven Gods of Happiness,” by Carlo Puini, vol. iii.
Transactions of the Asiatic Society
. See, also, for an account of their place in ShintM worship,
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan,
vol. i.

In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts
(
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan,
1894)

1
. Such are the names given to the water-vessels or cisterns at which Shint
ō
worshipers must wash their hands and rinse their mouths ere praying to the Kami. A mitarashi or
ō
-ch
ō
zubachi is placed before every Shint
ō
temple. The pilgrim to Shin-Kukedo-San should perform this ceremonial ablution at the little rock-spring above described, before entering the sacred cave. Here even the gods of the cave are said to wash after having passed through the sea-water.

2
. “The August Fire-Lady;” or, “the August Sun-Lady,” Ama-terasu-ohomi-Kami.

A Letter from Japan
(
The Romance of the Milky Way,
1905)

Horai
(
Kwaidan,
1904)

Bits of Life and Death
(
Out of the East,
1895)

1
. A sort of small silver carp.

2
. A hollow wooden block shaped like a dolphin's head. It is tapped in accompaniment to the chanting of the Buddhist sutras.

3
. At the great temple of Tenn
ō
ji, at
Ō
saka, all such bones are dropped into a vault; and according
to the sound each makes in falling,
further evidence about the G
ō
sho is said to be obtained. After a hundred years from the time of beginning this curious collection, all these bones are to be ground into a kind of paste, out of which a colossal statue of Buddha is to be made.

4
. “Thy previous life as for,—what was it? Honorably look [or,
please look
] and tell.”

5
. The meaning is, “Give to the beloved one a little more [wine].” The
“Ya-ton-ton”
is only a burden, without exact meaning, like our own
“With a hey! and a ho!”
etc.

6
. The meaning is about as follows: “If from the
ō
eido it be possible to send letters or telegrams, I shall write and forward news of our speedy safe arrival there.”

Of Women's Hair
(
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan,
1894)

1
. Formerly both sexes used the same pillow for the same reason. The long hair of a samurai youth, tied up in an elaborate knot, required much time to arrange. Since it has become the almost universal custom to wear the hair short, the men have adopted a pillow shaped like a small bolster.

2
. It is an error to suppose that all Japanese have blue-black hair. There are two distinct racial types. In one the hair is a deep brown instead of a pure black, and is also softer and finer. Rarely, but very rarely, one may see a Japanese
chevelure
having a natural tendency to ripple. For curious reasons, which cannot be stated here, an Izumo woman is very much ashamed of having wavy hair—more ashamed than she would be of a natural deformity.

3
. Even in the time of the writing of the
Kojiki
the art of arranging the hair must have been somewhat developed. See Professor Chamberlain's introduction to translation, p. xxxi.; also vol. i. section ix.; vol. vii section xii; vol. ix. section xviii.,
et passim
.