The subjects of the pieces are chiefly historical, feigned names being substituted for those of the real heroes.  Indeed, it is in the popular tragedies that we must seek for an account of many of the events of the last two hundred and fifty years; for only one very bald history[37] of those times has been published, of which but a limited number of copies were struck off from copper plates, and its circulation was strictly forbidden by the Shogun’s Government.  The stories are rendered with great minuteness and detail, so much so, that it sometimes takes a series of representations to act out one piece in its entirety.  The Japanese are far in advance of the Chinese in their scenery and properties, and their pieces are sometimes capitally got up:  a revolving stage enables them to shift from one scene to another with great rapidity.  First-rate actors receive as much as a thousand riyos (about L300) as their yearly salary.  This, however, is a high rate of pay, and many a man has to strut before the public for little more than his daily rice; to a clever young actor it is almost enough reward to be allowed to enter a company in which there is a famous star.  The salary of the actor, however, may depend upon the success of the theatre; for dramatic exhibitions are often undertaken as speculations by wealthy persons, who pay their company in proportion to their own profit.  Besides his regular pay, a popular Japanese actor has a small mine of wealth in his patrons, who open their purses freely for the privilege of frequenting the greenroom., The women’s parts are all taken by men, as they used to be with us in ancient days.  Touching the popularity of plays, it is related that in the year 1833, when two actors called Bando Shuka and Segawa Roko, both famous players of women’s parts, died at the same time, the people of Yedo mourned to heaven and to earth; and if a million riyos could have brought back their lives, the money would have been forthcoming.  Thousands flocked to their funeral, and the richness of their coffins and of the clothes laid upon them was admired by all.

[Footnote 37:  I allude to the Tai Hei Nem-piyo, or Annals of the Great Peace, a very rare work, only two or three copies of which have found their way into the libraries of foreigners.]

“When I heard this,” says Terakado Seiken, the author of the Yedo Hanjoki, “I lifted my eyes to heaven and heaved a great sigh.  When my friend Saito Shimei, a learned and good man, died, there was barely enough money to bury him; his needy pupils and friends subscribed to give him a humble coffin.  Alas! alas! here was a teacher who from his youth up had honoured his parents, and whose heart know no guile:  if his friends were in need, he ministered to their wants; he grudged no pains to teach his fellow-men; his good-will and charity were beyond praise; under the blue sky and bright day he never did a shameful deed.  His merits were as those of the sages of old; but because he lacked the cunning of a fox or badger he received no patronage from the wealthy, and, remaining poor to the day of his death, never had an opportunity of making his worth known.  Alas! alas!”