�和哥之圖
The “Niwaka-odori� (Dance) in the Ki�wa period (1801 to 1803).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

The dancers of dramatic representations also place themselves under a teacher and train continuously for ten days. It is agreed between the performers that during the training period they will not respond to the invitation of any guest, and no one has ever been found to infringe this rule. It is also a custom—if we may be allowed to mention a mere gastronomic detail—for the performers to eat unagi no domburi-meshi (boiled rice and pieces of roasted eels served up in a deep bowl) at tiffin every day during of the period of rehearsal.

The dramatic representations played by the company include several new pieces, and the training of the dancers is confided to Hanayanagi Jūsuke. This man was born and brought up in the Yoshiwara, and so the duty of directing the dances is entrusted to him. It appears that new pieces are specially written by playwrights at the request of Jūsuke, and that all such productions are of a comic nature, because the h�kan generally aim at exciting the hearty laughter of spectators by means of droll extravaganzas. When the training is finished a grand dress-rehearsal is given in one of the tea-houses, and on this occasion the proper costumes are worn. This dress-rehearsal is known as nari-mono-iri (鳴物入り). Then what is known as kwai-sho-iri (會所入り) takes place in the kensa-j� (檢查塲 = inspecting office), each person entering the room in the order determined by drawing lots. The singers and musicians who participate in the meeting are all professionals. The shishi-ren (��連 = “lion� party) goes into the office first, as it is considered the most important part of the company. At this stage the police make an examination of the persons in the building, as nobody is allowed to enter it unless possessed of a special ticket.

On the first day of the “niwaka� dancing the kwaisho (office) sends out people with a drum (shitaku-daiko), which is beaten as they perambulate the Naka-no-ch�, to announce the performance. If the weather be rainy, or the roads muddy and slushy, no performance takes place; when this is decided no drum is beaten and no lantern is hung before the Ō-mon (great gateway). The “lion� party (shishi-ren) and the niwaka no ya-tai (a kind of car, fixed up as a stage, on which the “niwaka� dance is performed) are started out from a certain fixed point at 7 o’clock in the evening, and go up and down the Naka-no-ch� every night: if the car and the party go up the left side of the street this evening they will come down the opposite side to-morrow evening, and the show ends at 11 o’clock each night, when its members are recalled to the office. A “niwaka� stage-car consists of a wheeled stage about 18 feet square and proportionately high, and it is so made as to be separated into two sections, each of which is fitted with its own wheels. The stage is fitted up like a regular theatre, provided with scenery painted on silk and paper, and lighted by means of lanterns.

This stage-car is brought to a standstill just between two tea-houses in order that the performance may be equally well seen by both from their upper floors: the idea of placing the stage in such a position was originated by dancing-master Hanayanagi, whose great experience taught him that this scheme was the best for everybody concerned. Next come the geisha who play the samisen, riding in a car fitted with benches made to accommodate them.

To the left and right of the benches uprights are placed and covered with lattice-work sh�ji, curtains of white and red colours are stretched across the top, and the whole car is lighted by means of three lanterns.

Then follows a soko-nuke ya-tai (a bottomless car), which is a kind of square paper-box, without cover or bottom, in front of which is hung a yoko-naga no and� (a horizontal lantern) on which is written the names of players, singers, dancers, and the name of the owner of the car. Inside this car are placed the hayashi-kata (orchestra). The coolies who drag these cars from place to place are usually hired (through a contractor) in the vicinity of Matsuba-ch�, Asakusa district, and are paid daily by the owner of the cars. The costumes of the geisha who play the samisen are of grey crêpe (dyed with their crests) trimmed at the bottom of the skirt with scarlet crêpe, white collars, black satin obi, and white socks. Their coiffure is in the Shimada style, and it is kept in place by a hair-pin decorated with the design of susuki grass.

The older geisha attire themselves even more strikingly than the younger girls, and make use of loud colours—such as blue and scarlet—in their costumes, thus attracting considerable attention by the incongruity displayed. The male players and singers wear blue cotton clothes dyed with their respective crests. The geisha who take part in the “kiyari� dress their hair after the manner of the top-knot style of men, intentionally spreading out their forelocks, and the whole get-up is like that of a teko-mai dancer. They wear three or even five jiban (loose shirts) a hara-gake (a cloth shield for the abdomen) and an upper garment called a Yoshiwara-gaku. The right arm and shoulder is thrust out of the jiban, on which latter an elaborate design is usually dyed.