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 Daimyō-jin?" All the Gods looked everywhere for him, but he was not to be found. Now Miwa Daimyō-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 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 Shintōism, it was later on adopted by the Buddhists, who considerably altered its simple but beautiful construction by turning up the corners of the horizontal beams, supplying inscriptions and ornaments of various kinds.
"The Footstool of the King"
Whatever the origin and significance of the Shintō 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 Shintō 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.