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Lafcadio Hearn - Kokoro
"A crowd soon gathered to look at the strangers who had come to their village, - a rare event for them.
The faces I saw seemed much like the faces of the heimin, except that I fancied the ugly ones
were uglier, making the pretty ones appear more pretty by contrast. There were one or two sinister faces,
recalling faces of gypsies that I had seen; while some little girls, on the other hand, had remarkably
pleasing features. There were no exchanges of civilities, as upon meeting heimin; a Japanese of
the better class would as soon think of taking off his hat to a yama-no-mono as a West-Indian
planter would think of bowing to a negro. The yama-no-mono themselves usually show by their
attitude that they expect no forms. None of the men saluted us; but some of the women, on being kindly
addressed, made obeisance. Other women, weaving coarse straw sandals (an inferior quality of zori),
would answer only 'yes' or 'no' to questions, and seemed to be suspicious of us. My friend called my
attention to the fact that the women were dressed differently from Japanese women of the ordinary
classes. For example, even among the very poorest heimin there are certain accepted laws of
costume; there are certain colors which may or may not be worn, according to age. But even elderly
women among these people wear obi of bright red or variegated hues, and kimono of a showy tint.
"Those of the women seen in the city street, selling or buying, are the elders only. The younger stay at
home. The elderly women always go into town with large baskets of a peculiar shape, by which the fact
that they are yama-no-mono is at once known. Numbers of these baskets were visible, principally
at the doors of the smaller dwellings. They are carried on the back, and are used to contain all that the
yama-no-mono buy, - old paper, old wearing apparel, bottles, broken glass, and scrap-metal.
"A woman at last ventured to invite us to her house, to look at some old colored prints she wished to sell.
Thither we went, and were as nicely received as in a heimin residence. The pictures - including a
number of drawings by Hiroshige - proved to be worth buying; and my friend then asked if we could
have the pleasure of hearing the Daikoku-mai. To my great satisfaction the proposal was well received;
and on our agreeing to pay a trifle to each singer, a small band of neat-looking young girls, whom we had
not seen before, made their appearance, and prepared to sing, while an old woman made ready to dance.
Both the old woman and the girls provided themselves with curious instruments for the performance.
Three girls had instruments shaped like mallets, made of paper and bamboo: these were intended to
represent the hammer of Dai-koku(2); they were held in the left hand, a fan being waved in the right.
Other girls were provided with a kind of castanets, - two flat pieces of hard dark wood, connected by a
string. Six girls formed in a line before the house. The old woman took her place facing the girls, holding
in her hands two little sticks, one stick being notched along a part of its length. By drawing it across the
other stick, a curious rattling noise was made.
"My friend pointed out to me that the singers formed two distinct parties, of three each. Those bearing
the hammer and fan were the Daikoku band: they were to sing the ballads Those with the castanets were
the Ebisu party and formed the chorus.
"The old woman rubbed her little sticks together, and from the throats of the Daikoku band there rang out
a clear, sweet burst of song, quite different from anything I had heard before in Japan, while the tapping
of the castanets kept exact time to the syllabification of the words, which were very rapidly uttered.
When the first three girls had sung a certain number of lines, the voices of the other three joined in,
producing a very pleasant though untrained harmony; and all sang the burden together. Then the Daikoku
party began another verse; and, after a certain interval, the chorus was again sung. In the meanwhile the
old woman was dancing a very fantastic dance which provoked laughter from the crowd, occasionally
chanting a few comic words.
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