The drama is exclusively the amusement of the middle and lower classes.  Etiquette, sternest of tyrants, forbids the Japanese of high rank to be seen at any public exhibition, wrestling-matches alone excepted.  Actors are, however, occasionally engaged to play in private for the edification of my lord and his ladies; and there is a kind of classical opera, called No, which is performed on stages specially built for the purpose in the palaces of the principal nobles.  These No represent the entertainments by which the Sun Goddess was lured out of the cave in which she had hidden, a fable said to be based upon an eclipse.  In the reign of the Emperor Yomei (A.D. 586-593), Hada Kawakatsu, a man born in Japan, but of Chinese extraction, was commanded by the Emperor to arrange an entertainment for the propitiation of the gods and the prosperity of the country.  Kawakatsu wrote thirty-three plays, introducing fragments of Japanese poetry with accompaniments of musical instruments.  Two performers, named Taketa and Hattori, having especially distinguished themselves in these entertainments, were ordered to prepare other similar plays, and their productions remain to the present day.  The pious intention of the No being to pray for the prosperity of the country, they are held in the highest esteem by the nobles of the Court, the Daimios, and the military class:  in old days they alone performed in these plays, but now ordinary actors take part in them.

The No are played in sets.  The first of the set is specially dedicated to the propitiation of the gods; the second is performed in full armour, and is designed to terrify evil spirits, and to insure the punishment of malefactors; the third is of a gentler intention, and its special object is the representation of all that is beautiful and fragrant and delightful.  The performers wear hideous wigs and masks, not unlike those of ancient Greece, and gorgeous brocade dresses.  The masks, which belong to what was the private company of the Shogun, are many centuries old, and have been carefully preserved as heirlooms from generation to generation; being made of very thin wood lacquered over, and kept each in a silken bag, they have been uninjured by the lapse of time.

During the Duke of Edinburgh’s stay in Yedo, this company was engaged to give a performance in the Yashiki of the Prince of Kishiu, which has the reputation of being the handsomest palace in all Yedo.  So far as I know, such an exhibition had never before been witnessed by foreigners, and it may be interesting to give an account of it.  Opposite the principal reception-room, where his Royal Highness sat, and separated from it by a narrow courtyard, was a covered stage, approached from the greenroom by a long gallery at an angle of forty-five degrees.  Half-a-dozen musicians, clothed in dresses of ceremony, marched slowly down the gallery, and, having squatted down on the stage, bowed gravely.  The performances then began.  There was no scenery, nor stage appliances;