Milford chronicle., 1888-02-17
THE JAPANESE ANNA.
THE ARTIST WHO KNEADs AND
RUss THE MUSCLES.

RU5S THE MUSCLES.
Oriental Massage as Praoticed Among
our Almond Eyed Brethren-An Old
woman's Hard work-A Restful Pro-
cess-Iapancse Medical students.
As I am sitting in my room there comes
to my ears the sound Of a shril pipe,
sounding not unlike a fife. The traveller
in Japan, go where he may, almost invari-
ably hears the sound at night, and viii be
told in answer 10 his inquiries that the
performance is a professional shampooer
or ANNA. Many Of these people are blind,
and at night pass up and down the streets,
feeling their way with long sticks, which
they hold in one hand, while with the
other hand they play upon the bamboo
pipe, which seems to notify the world OF
their presence.
The ANNA is not a shampOoer in the
American sense Of the term. He does not
conflne his operations to the head and
hair. He practices what is known by the
French as the massage. His art consists
in kneadlng all the muscles Of the body
and bringing them into play, and he is re-
garded as a useful functionary, second only
in Importance to the physician as healer
of physical disorders. The art is prac-
ticed not only by men, but also by women,
aud az almost every inn where | have
stopped among the first persons to profier
their services have been the aminas Only
once have / yielded to their invitations to
allow my body TO be treated like a piece
Of dough, and that was at Subasbirt, im-
mediately after my descent from Fuji.
Tired and aching from the severe eXer-
ton Of climbing the mountain the sug-
gestion Of DR.. Knipping that it might be
wen to allow an ANNA to shampoo us
was acceded TO, more from curiosity as to
the possible results than from any faith
in the efficacy Of the treatment.
The particular ANNA who came to our
room and shampoOed us was an ungainly
and awfully ugly woman of middle age,
whose blackened teeth when she smiled
looked like row Of watermelon seeds set
in her face During the process I had an
opportunity to question her fully as to the
business, and learned from her quite n
number Of interesting facts. She informed
US that before commencing the practice Of
her art she has been obliged to serve an
apprenticeship of three years, during
which time she read large number Of
japanese books teaching of the human
become learned in anatomy and physi-
ology. She had practices the massage for
ten years already, and had by means of it
gained her livelihood. She stated that
she was able in one evening, from to 10,
TO treat four persons, who paid. her a fes
of fifteen sen apiece. Her daily earnings
were, however, not more than thirty sen
on an average, or about twenty-fOur cents
of American currency.
In the operation of shampooing, as
practiced by the ANNA, the patient lies
upon futon or rug, while the ANNA
kneels beside him. The first act in the
drama deals with the abdominal cavity.
Placing one hand on either side of tho
abdomen, above the hips, the ANNA COM
presses the body laterally number Of
times, then drawing mp the loose folds Of
flesh, he kpeads and pinches them, at the
same time making passes which CORE
spend in their direction with that Of the
colon. This portion of the treatment
ended, each leg is attacked and vigorously
rubbed and kneaded, the process termin-
ating by Il smart bastinadL administered
TO the soles Of the feet.
In rubbing and kneading the muscles
use is made of n yound ball of lockwood,
though the ANNA to whose treatment l
submitted employed only her fingers and
knuckles. The arms and chest are treated
as the legs, and then the patient IS turned
over face downward, and the shoulders
and back are punched and llncaded until
the breath almost forsakes the body. The
entire performance ends with a vigorous
rubbing Of the neck, which, in my case,
seemed to threaten the dislocaticn of the
cervical vertebr@. The amount of
strength in fingers and wrists display ed
by the ANNA is quite remarkable. Our
ANNA shampooed four persons in success
sion the evening we engaged her, consum-
ing four hours in the task, during which
she was working with all her might al
most constantly, only stopping to wipe off
the perspiration which flowed from her
face.
The result of the experiment, so far rs
personally was concerned, was, l think,
such as to warrant the repetition of the
treatment under like circumstances. l
awOke on the morrow feeling far less tired
and sore than / had reason to believe my
mountain climbing would have left me.
The art of the ANNA appears likely to
live for n long time in Japan, as it is in
some respects founded upon rational prin-
ciples. This is Eot, however, the case
with the medical practitioner Of the old
GulueS0 bCuoui, WuuSt lEdcLlte Is swiftly
and surely dwindling away as the merits
of western medical theory and practice are
becoming more and more recognized. The
old style of practitioner, with his nos
trums and entertainments, his mixtures of
villainous herbs and minerals, his pow
ders made Of dried snake skins and bird
dung, is still in the numerical minority
when census of the medical
practitioners of Japan is taken, but the
young men, graduates of the university at
Toxic, are rapidly absorbing the entire
practice among the Weather and more
intelligent classes. The medical DEPART
ment at the Imperial university at Toxic
is under the care of German professors,
men Of thorough ability and experience,
and the results achieved during later
years have been most marked and most
beneficial to the country as a whole It
is the feeling Of not few Europeans resi-
dent in Japan that, while always prefer
ring the services of a European or Amer
lean practitioner the graduate Of the uni- |
vGrsity at Toxic may generally be trusted |
Ia treat a patient carefully and WE'LL
Cor. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.