The Washington herald., 1908-07-05

Lho Imperial palace
While we fret over heat and cold.
clamor for summer palace or a winter
resort, that august parsonage the Mikado
serenely sits always in the apartment
called Omote Gozasho or Gakumonsho
study-indeed, heat and cold may not ap-
proRch him who. as we say. lives above
the density Of ninefold clouds. beyond the
ageless pine forest Of the Chiyoda castle
and studiously assumes his daily work
OF ruling this Rising Sun empire. 1t
goes without saying that he possesses
many palaces In the country and more
than five detached palaces even in the
city Of Tokyo; but they are left entirely
IN the hands of other members Of his
family 10 draw enjoyment from And he
rises and falls with this little study
Six o'clock Is the time for him 20 get
up without fail. He appear in the onku-
chi sosogijo or honorable mouth rinsing
place" after changing his nlghtgown for
a habutae hitOe. a kimono of a single
thickness. He will rest for a short while
after his O'Clock breakfast; at 9 o'clock.
the iii. or doctor on duty, is asked to ex-
nmine his body. Then the tenjl or gon-
tenji, the court ladies in waiting, will
make their presence; and his majesty the
Emperor will put on his dress OF daigen-
sui. or supreme generalissino. 20 make
his daily appearance in his study at 10
o'clock. He usually wears the decora-
tions OF "Daikuni Kikkasho." Kun Tito
Hakushoku Toyosho." "Zulhosho," and
''Kenpohappu Kinensho." and sometimes
many more; and always he wears his
hoken or sword.
Spends Busy Day.
He retires from his study at noon for
his luncheon and rests til > o'clock; and
he will be busy at work till or o'clock.
But when his work does not press he will
leave the gakumonsho study at 3 and go
straight to his bathroom. His supper will
be announced at 6 o'clock, and after that
ne makes il his nightly custom TO talk on
poetry and literature with the Empress or
the court ladies' At 9 o'clock one from
tho jill kyoku. or doctors-on-duty-o Office.
will appear TO give him a massage, and
he goes 10 sleep at 1890 or II o'clock
every night
He will put off his army dress with his
retirement from the OmOte GOzasho for
his black frock coat and trousers. He
stands above the yearly fashion. II is
said that his frock coat is old styled,
trimmed at the edge. and that he is a
stanch adherent TO old fashion. and that
st is not only In his taste in dress. His
night gown is made with white habutae.
and when he has worn Il once he will not
use Il again. and il will be given 70 an
officer on duty in the palace or some
court noble Of old time who may be
without any Office. AID also his shirts,
under trousers. stockings. and other
things win make no repeated service. but
are speedily given away.
1t Is twice I'm a year that he makes his
official presence in the old japanese dress
OF eboshi and shojolu; that is on New
Years Day and the ShihOhai Day. which
happens 10 be on the third day OF Janu-
are. the feast of worshiping the four
corners Of the universe. But on the other
days of the year he wears his generals
smo's army dress. one autumn, when
a grand naval maneuver was held in
Yokohama Bay he appeared for the first
time IN his naval dress; and 1t is said
that he has made It his custom TO wear
It on any naval occasion. The imperial
dressmaking shop was founded in the
palace some years ago; there many tail
their own bodies, are busy at work.
Diet OF the Emperor.
What does the. Emperor eat? His diet
Is simple perhaps the simplest among
the kings and emperors Of the world
And we can say. too that it is more sim
pie than that Of the richer class Of Jap
anese. For breakfast and luncheon he
has "niju." or two kinds OF soups, and
"sansai," or three kinds Of dishes, anC
for his dinner five kinds Of dishes. be
sides two kinds Of soups. He takes. be
sides these japanese soups, one go" oil
chicken soup at his luncheon and din
ner. one Of these niju is made Of misc
or a kind Of bean sauce. as for the break
fast Of the poorest japanese family. and
the other is a shovu soup. The show
is a kind Of sauce made of fermenteC
wheat and beans. not unlike Worcester
shire. Fishes are the main thing for the
preparation of the sansai and gosai
sometimes appearing a sashimi Ol
sliced raw fish. sometimes as a fish fry
seasoned with shovu or salt and some
times boiled IN shOvu. And eels are USED
quite often also kamaboko, or a sort o
fish bread
The imperial cook is called Diazer
Shoku: the dishes he prepares have TO b,
brought before the doctors on duty. whC
examine them carefully. This Is called
"odokumi." or tasting to test whether
thing is poisonous or not And then. aft
er having a Doctors approval. the dishes
will be offered 10 the Emperor. Thi
adokumI Is quite old. and was alread!
known even among the lords of a littl
castle of the feudal age; and II becam
l. 49, 81.
of the Tokugawa feudal prince. II i
said that a second set Of the same dishe
used % be prepared for examination. be
sides those which were to go TO tn
prince II is quite proper. Of course. &
pay strict attention 60 such matters.
Emperor Uses ChOpstIclxs.
The table the BIikado eats from is whit
in color. as it is the custom since tim
immemorial; and II is small. like an.
other japanese table. The dishes hav
the designs Of chrysanthemums and kir
leaves. and they have sometimes the de
signs of young pine leaves. cranes, o
tortolses. And they are invariably tn
Kyoto ware. The Emperors chopstick
are nino inches long. and they are pol
ished like ivory. Since their material (
strong, they will never break a4thoug
they are rather thin for their length.
Takajro Muraki of the Nippara villag
OF Tokyo province furnishes trees gen
orally called katsu no XII for the manu-
facture OF the Mikado's chopsticks: an
the man who makes them by special ap
pOintment is Eitaro Watanabe, who live
at Kotohira Cho. Shiba, Tokyo. II
keeps several men who work under him
but he will not let anybody do the fhis
except himself To make the finish O