The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-07-30
ADJUSTMENTS OF THE JAPANESE PEOPLE
Where Patrons Check
Shoes at the
Door.

than one. Instead of checking his
overcoat or umbrella the patron
leaves his shoes in the foyer. In one
way he gets more for his money than
in the United States. because the play
begins in the morning and lasts until
ten or eleven o'clock at night The in
terror of the playhouse is lined with
Tefreshment stands and restaurants,
so that all kinds of food and drinks
are served to the audience in their
seats. The neighborhood abounds in
tea houses and the easiest way to ar
range a theater party is to give an adj
vance order to the proprietor of one Of
these places. Like the spectators in
America the tea house people control
the choicest seats which enable them
to handle a large volume of the bust
ness They arrange all details even
1 to having their attendants enter the
\ theater and wait upon their patrons.
There are no chairs so the specta-
tors in the main portion of the building
squat upon mats. The gallery gods
stand up and peer through rows OF
horizontal bars. AS the mob in the
peanut heaven" presses against the
wooden Stats that divide them from
the more select patrons. it reminds
one of lot of convicts herded to-
gether in big cell. The admission
to this pen is only a. few coppers,
hardly enough it would seem
to pay for keeping it clean.
When the performance begins
the management takes no chances
on the audience missing anything. AS
each performer makes his entrance
the drum beats to call attention to his |
arrival, and his exit being noted in !
the same way. Old men sit near the |
foot-lights to chant an explanation of /
the proceedings as they progress.
The stage hands take plenty of time to
arrange the properties in full view of
the audience, and every small boy in
the house delegates himself commit
tee of one to go back of the curtain at
intervals to see that everything is be-
ing conducted properly.
NO ACTRESSES IN JAPAN.
The Japanese stage loses it's attrac-
ton for the American man when he
finds that no women ever take part in
the performance. The female charac-
ters are represented by men with .
saueaky voices and their impersona-
tion of the fair sex is a sorry bur-
cite
pokers. If one of them should stump
his toe he would break in two. The
high, unnatural tone they assume
sounds like the hidden voice in
Punch and Judy show. When one of
them has to make a long speech in this ,
strained falsetto he gets so red in the
face from the effort that he seems
ready to burst a blood vessel.
The stage is made in the form of ,
turn-table, so that instead of raising '
Or lowering curtains, as in our play
houses, the whole thing revolves.
While one scene is toward the audi {
ence another is being arranged in the I
rear The platform is on rollers and
the motive power to turn it. AS one 2
scene disappears with much shaking i
and squeakng its successor comes IN
to view. the actors meanwhile stand
ing in their places as rigid as statues.
If the coolies use too much effort
!. and shove the platform beyond the
proper point the angry performers IN
dulge in much expostulating and Ses-
ticulating which is not incidental to
the play.
ACTORS PASS THROUGH AUDI
ENCE.
Those taking part in the perform
ance frequently make their entrances
and exits from the front of the build
ing rather than from the wings. 10
facilitate this arrangement there are
elevated walk-ways level with the
stage (similar to those which our ma
picians sometimes use to get nearer
their audience) which extend to the
foyer. It is only recently that reg
ular system of lighting the play
houses came into vogue. Formerly
cowled super lowered around the ac-
tor holding a torch near his face so
that the fine play of emotion in MS
features would not be overlooked.
This super had to know his cues per-
fectly or there was prospect OF set
ting fire to the false whiskers OF the
star. 1t is an unwritten law of the
Japanese stage that any assistant
starting such confiagration snail
end his professional career on the
| spot
| Japanese stars have several sources
| of revenue unknown to American &C
| tors. When the spectators become eA-
cited they throw hats. belts pipes
and even their coats on the stage
AThis does not mean hat the performer