The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-05-04

the matador makes no charge. H
merely selects one hat from the LOT
rests it on his head for an instant
1 then throws it aside and proceeds wit
his work.
| The Japanese stars of the old schoo
also made a fixed charge for the privil
! eye of visiting them in their dres
sing-room. Those who paid the pric
were presented with an autograph
some little. gift, or if the actor wa.
| especially impressed with his visitor
| he might delay the performance Ions
! enough to serve tea.
The japanese stage manager of the
old school left nothing to the imagina
ton or memory of the spectators. Fol
instance, take a scene from one of the
hoary and time honored classics OF
Nippon. An old man is making love tC
a young girl. He is too old and de-
crepit to make an acceptable sutton;
but the girl knows that he has great
influence with her father. Therefore
while she desires to repulse him, she
must do so cautiously. All of this has
been brought out in the foregoing acts
But when the actual love making scene
is reached the play is as hard to fol-
Sow as a three ringed circus. The old
man is pouring out his plea of passion
to the girl, the orchestra is playing an
accompaniment for his lines, and in
the wings two old men chanting an
explanation of why she doesn't give the
old codger his walking papers on the
instant
That peculiar Oriental stoicism which
keeps men and women from showing
any emotion of either joy or sorrow
operates only when personal fortunes
are concerned, and not when others are
involved. The man who would hear the
burdens of Job without changing his
face, is ready to weep at the slightest
misfortune which befalls another, while
a woman whose immobile countenance
would not betray her enjoyment of the
sweets of heaven, viii laugh like a
child at some other. persons happiness.
So it is that a Japanese theater audi
ence is an instrument upon which even
the mediocre actor may play at will.
1t is as responsive as an organ, and
rarely produces a discord. One may.
enter Toxic theater and find thou
sand men and women splitting their
sides with laughter, and two minutes
later every man and woman in the au-
dience will be Frustrated on the mats,
weeping as if their hearts would break.
The Japanese actor never has the
handicap of an unsympathetic audi
ence.
The professional story teller ranks
next to the actor as an entertainer in
Japan. He gives his performance in
rooms smaller than the theater, and
his long winded yarns deal
with many topics, they cost his hearers
but a few coppers. An idea of what
appeals to the Japanese sense of humor
may be obtained from the following
tale by famous Toxic storyteller. He
said there was once an old miser who
had a great deal of money, fondness
for good things to eat, and a wonder
full imagination. He lived over a res
taurant which had the reputation of
he finest cells in the city, cells
and rice being the great Japanese deli
eacy. AS the epicures assembled each
lay in the eating house the appetizing
odor of frying cells filed the rooms
above. The imagination of the miser
was so potent that when the savory
smell filled his nostrils, he could sit
Town to his meal of plain food with the
xeenest relish. When the owner of
he restaurant found this out, he forth
with presented a bill. Whereupon the
;tingy tenant produced his money bag,
ingled the coins in it, then returned
t to his pocket. When asked to ex-
plain, he replied: You have charged
ne for the smell of your cells and
lave paid you with the sound of my
money! II
The most popular storyteller in Japan
1t present is a man known to his au-
licences as Ishii, but his real name is
Black. He is the son of an English
nan who started the first newspapers
n Japan. His knowledge of the vary
ng dialects is so perfect, his dress so
accurate, and his manner so natural
hat few of his hearers suspect that
lie is a foreigner.
The japanese people are so found of !
he theater that it can be made a trem- /
ndous educating influence if the move |
nent to modernize il succeeds. If the /
Id classical plays, dealing with the ,
Try dust of ancient history, can be :
one away with, and modern subjects I
reated in their stead, much useful i
resent-day information may be quick /
Y impaired to the masses. During the /
ecent boycott on American goods in |
'hina one of the most effective ways
f reaching the people with the propa-
anda was through the medium of the |
ctors and storytellers. Now it is said /
hat through the same channel even
he coolies on the border of faT-off !
'hibet have heard about the coming
+ the American fleet to the Pacific.