Names given to the six sets of tablets used, according to decorative designs on the back:
“Gold Chrysanthemum” 1 3 1 2* Guest 1 2* 2 3* 3 3
“Young Bamboo” 3* 1* 1 2* 1* Guest 3 2 1 3 4
“Red Peony” Guest 1* 2 2* 3 1 3 2 3* 1 3
“White Lily” 1 3 1 3 2 2 1 3 Guest 2* 1
“Young Pine” 3* 1* Guest* 3 1* 2 2* 1* 3* 2* 8 (Winner)
“Cherry-Blossom-in-a-Mist” 1 3 Guest* 2* 1* 3* 1 2 3* 2* 6
Guesses recorded by numbers on the tablet; correct being marked *
No. of correct guesses
NAMES OF INCENSE USED.
I. “Tasogare” (“Who-Is-there?” I. e. “Evening-Dusk”).
II. “Baikwa” (“Plum Flower”).
III. “Wakakusa” (“Young Grass”).
IV. (“Guest Incense”) “Yamaji-no-Tsuyu” (“Dew-on-the-Mountain-Path”).
To the Japanese original of the foregoing record were appended the names of the players, the date of the entertainment, and the name of the place where the party was held. It is the custom In some families to enter all such records in a book especially made for the purpose, and furnished with an index which enables the Kō-kwai player to refer immediately to any interesting fact belonging to the history of any past game.
The reader will have noticed that the four kinds of incense used were designated by very pretty names. The incense first mentioned, for example, is called by the poets’ name for the gloaming,—Tasogaré (lit: “Who is there?” or “ Who is it?”)—a word which in this relation hints of the toilet-perfume that reveals some charming presence to the lover waiting in the dusk. Perhaps some curiosity will be felt regarding the composition of these incenses. I can give the Japanese recipes for two sorts; but I have not been able to identify all of the materials named:—
Recipe for Yamaji-no-Tsuyu.
Ingredients Proportions.
about
Jinkō (aloes-wood) 4 mommé (½ oz.)
Cōoji (cloves) 4 ” ”
Kunroku (olibanum) 4 ” ”
Hakkō (artemisia Schmidtiana) 4 ” ”
Jakō (musk) 1 bu (⅛ oz.)
Kōkō(?) 4 mommé (½ oz.)
To 21 pastilles