Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-01-25

Toxic Japan, Lstssr.l


There arc periodical outbursts Of heafhe0
inn among The japanese, despite thsir apdne
western nations. One Is Impressed with this
moro than ever ct the time Il some sfeaa
festival With modern japanese gsnesany
. religious observance becomes psotsxe 10
Q holiday. Indeed, % numerous have thsaz
frolics become that many Japanso have 10
idea what certain Of them ere Tor. A tew
days ago, On the occasion Of oue At these
holidays asked . very intelligent Japanesl
what It commemorated, and he replied: Il d.
not know, but think it refers to something
connected with the founding f tie govern
mentr To the masses these days usually
mean good time; to the carpenfezz paper
hangers and shop keepers brisk trade; e
the proprietors Of tea-houses and hrothels Z
perfect rush OF custom, and to the priests tn
skillful gamering Of many thousands o.
homely coppen that drop ceasslessly into TIL
functory priesthood
One Of these festivals, called in the native
tongue matsuri, is held at Kanda, In the city
of Toxic. Tho great show was TO begin On
Sunday, and continue three days, but BY
Saturday night the population had increased
BY 5000. The people, men, women and
children, came by rail. by carriages, By jim
ricisha, and on foot to the scene OF festivities
Every available spot was crowded, and tn
immense throng swayed TO and fro. 3ost'ins
each other in their effort to reach the centel
of attraction Ono must come TO thes<
Oriental lands to find crowd. Number
never seem to interfere with pleasure. Ih'
ten thousands may swell to the twenties, and
from this to the ffties, withou: incouveni
encs. THIS Is due to the peculiar arrange
ment Of tho cities, where there arc no side
walks, and all the street Is thus used fnl
pleasure purposes. II Is also due to the Pc
culiar construction Of the houses, the whole
front and partitions bein, movable. II 4
owing also to the simple food and culinar,
arrangement which make the feeding Of
1000 people an easy task.
Fro m Asakusa to Kenda and thence 20 tn
castle, distance Of ten miles, stretched tenn
porary balconies just under the caves OF tn
heavy,roofed houses, that all within might
see the countless host without. a
hundred Thousand lanterns swayed IN th'
breez, from the caves Of houses, swung
across streets supported by the slim bamboo
over arched entrances with dancing wave'
Of light, glimm, in the tree-tops. ana
glinted from sc.... pleasure garden where ths
sound Of voice and flute with the monotonou
bum-hum OF the samisen. the Japanese Sui
tar, foated out on the evening air. II wa
not a gorgeous scene. but the lanterns cas-
such a weird, fantastic light over al that blu,
for the surging crowd We might fancy TIN
ghosts Of the departed Orientais were abroat
In very fact It was a beautiful scene. Tb'
plash Of some miniature cataract as It ttmbleS
over the rocks bsneath fantastic pine
mingled with tho minor thud Of the old teiu
pie drum, and gave Us renewed visions o
Arabian Nights
On Sunday the time was spent In paying
penance and purchasing paper prayers a
the temple, where the priests were doing ,
thrifty business. The practice Is for tn
priests to sell a strip OF paper with som
characters written on 1t, and these are hum
up before the god. while the suppliant SHINE
Is quafing sake a. e japanese wine or teer
at some stand little further on Arrange
ments had been made to far eclipse any pre-
vious effort this year. though nobody seem
to know why. Forty gorgeous cars hat
been made to enter the grand procession
These had platforms about ten feet high
upon which was fastened one Of the patrol
gods There was Dai Koku, the god o
wealth. He Is very portly and stands OF
two bags Of rice, the symbol Of wealth il
this country. There 10 Hotel, the god o
happiness. He is even fatter and jollier thai
Dai Koku. He drinks too much, but he
the friend OF the children, making them tops
kites and all sorts Of toys There is the got
Of fire. which resembles the Harpies Of Viz
gil. ard there are many Others, beside
deiiied ancestors and others Of less renown
There are seven patron gods in all, six o
them being men. Benton, the patron Of th
family and the sen, is . woman.
Mixed up with these notions Of Deity N
snakes, dragons with . thousand heads, q
intinity Of claws aud tail, animals the like o
which are not in heaven above or earth be
meath The cars are decked out with COL,
and silver paper snd bright ornaments OF til
foil and gilt Everything in human form
out of proportion, the eyes being sometime
Is large a. saucsrs, while tho form ID no
more than six feet high The people year
not for the rules Of art but for effect, AM
they get it, Bright and early thee fort,
cars, drawn by their sleek oxen, were ready
- stnrt amid bedlam Of noise OF drums
horns, flutes. tom-toms, triangles, cymta
and everything else under the sun that coult
give one the notion OF pandemonium
thbf> - W sAo1 SAAAi6 vs. 4h u
disorder There was no commander, ant
none but a demon with a legion Of imp
could have commanded. The plan here i
for procession to start and the vast thron,
moves along with it like the steady flow of
glacier
These proud picnickcrs were destined K
disappointment, for. 10. storm arose, tn,
breeze freshened 10 a gale, and the gal,
strengthened TO tempest. and the tempes
ended in typhoon- Those respondent car
were in an hours tirle only beiraggled ruins
and in thirty minutes more they were cap
sized in tho panic stricken crowd. To add
to the dire calamity, the temporary balconis.
erected for the occasion were wrenched from
their places. while everything movable
doors, fences, roof-tiles-went flying through
the air Booths and stalls erected for the
display of wares were tuubled to tho middle
Of the street. while food Of rain poured
over everything. After the storm had
passed over the city it was found that up
wards Of 200 houses had bcen completely,
and many more partially, wrecked The ex.
penses for this festival amounted 70 over
S2O,OO0, which had been mostly pledged BY
shopkeepers and hucksters, and the affair
notmeeting expenses much distress ensues
Then, too. the lower classes always indulge
in finer clothes at such times, and il is re
ported ii the native papers that some Of the
moor wretches pledged their wives and chill.