[21] There are nine of these stages of skill.
[22] 5.13 bushel. Income of the samurai classes were so measured.
[23] Kyara = nut gall, in Momogawa's kōdan. From the marriage to the expulsion of O'Iwa his treatment of the story is mainly followed. Ryuō slurs the marriage, but describes the persecution with great effect. The lines of treatment only diverge subsequently. Ryuō is to be preferred.
[24] The monetary bu was one-fourth the ryō; the shū was one-fourth the value of the bu. A hundred mon = one sen. To-day there are blind shampooers (and for massage) at 500 mon = 5 sen.
[25] Of the Nichiren sect. The characters of the "Yotsuya Kwaidan" move within the circle of this Presbyterian cult: i.e., Presbyterian in its stiff attitude of hostility and superiority to all other sects. There is another Myōgyōji, neighbour to the Ten-ō shrine.
[26] High sounding titles given to the great hetairae. The difference from the Greek world lay in their not being independent. They were confined to the houses of their owners. But these noted women were ransomed at times—even by great nobles. Thus Daté Tsunamune the 3rd daimyō of Sendai bought the famous Oiran Takao, weighing in the scales the woman against gold. In a fit of passion he killed her soon after, and had her body cast into the Edogawa.
[27] "Hagurete mo mata afu michi ya hana no yama."
[28] The aodaishō is something of the nature of a black snake. Says Brinkley's Dict. "elaphis virgatus."
[29] The term "Inkyō," already several times used, applies to a man who has retired from active life, leaving the management of the affairs of the House to the duly appointed heir and successor. A specified portion of the income is usually assigned for his maintenance, and forms a first lien, so to speak, on such return. The modernized law of Nippon does not permit assumption of this state before the age of fifty years, unless there be incapacitation such as necessitates retirement. In ancient days (pre-Meiji) there was no such limitation. Men often retired very early in life—from caprice, family intrigue, or for the freer management of their affairs. In the latter case they had more power and less responsibility; the latter falling on the heir and successor, perhaps still a mere child. Go is merely honorific.
[30] "Awarase ya: Byōbu wa koi no taki sagari." The living carp strives to ascend the fall.