The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-05-16

poems, which, according 10 japanese
rule. must consist OF either sixteen or
thrty-one syIla bles. His capacity in
this particular is so great that the
official Court Poet estimates that dur
ing the past thirty years His Majesty
has written fully 10000 poems. It is
told that when the Emperor was only
eight years old his father gave him a
number Of subjects for verses, and he
has had an unvaring love of this kind
of composition ever since. Each jan
uary the Emperor selects a subject
and the republic is requested TO send
of responses are received and the
Bureau OF Poetry is rushed for months
in the work Of passing upon them all.
Finally the committee selects what
are considered the six best poems and
these are read in Court and pub
Used in all the papers. OF course this
honor is regarded very highly by the
successful competitors. This year
the subject was: The Pine Tree Be-
side the Shrine" The Emperor's con-
tribution was: The ever green pine
tree stands beside the shrine which
guards the Empire immovable."
Among the six successful contribu-
tors there was only one woman, who
wrote: I'm the garden fronting the
shrine. the cranes play under the
pine-tree foliage" While the trans
lation destroys the meter, an under
standing of the idea may be OBJ
tanned
The present Court Poet is seventy
years old, and it is said that he is
soon to retire from office on account
of the arduous duties attached to it.
There is q story which shows that
although the Mikado may be SUI
preme in ruling the japanese nation,
the Court Poet is the boss of his
department. Years ago when the En-
peror and his poetical adviser were
both young men they made trip to-
gether from Kioto to Toxic. They
travelled along for several days in
sight of Fujiyama, the Sacred Noun
tain. OF course the view inspired the
Emperor to dash off number of eff
fusions. In trying to determine which
of the lot was the best dispute
arose. and the discussion became so
heated that the Court Poet resigaed
on the spot. However, his august
master declined to release him, and
in the oyertures which followed it
was agreed that in future His Ma
jesty should accept the rulings of his
Minister of Muses. without question.
And even to this day the Court Poet
of Japan is not a fgurehead.
Aside from his love of poetry. the
Emperor has absolutely no amuse-
ments. When a young man he was
quite skillful in the practice of arch
cry and for a time spent portion
of each day in drilling a company of
troops The fact that he is suscepti-
BILE to sea sickness is said to be the
reason why he does not have an I'M
perial yacht Whenever it becomes
necessary for him to journey on the
water he travels in steamer charter
ed for the occasion, or Utilities one of
the battleships of the japanese navy.
Although His Majesty has a number
of country palaces and game pre-
serves, he rarely or never visits them,
preferring to remain at the capital of
his Empire.
The Empress of Japan is a noble
and inspiring woman. Her name is
Haruko, and she is the daughter of
a noble of the highest rank. She is
two years older than the Mikado. The
sacredness of the Imperial personages
was shown by an incident which oc
CURED when it was determined that
the court ladies should adopt Europ
can dress. AT this time great diff
Guilty was experienced in getting
clothes to fit Her Imperial Majesty.
The profane hands of a dressmaker
could not be allowed to touch the per-
son of the Empress, so a court lady
had to pose as a model until the gar
ments were gradually made to fit.
The Empress also has poetic incii-
nations, and is herself the author of
several volumes of verse. One of the
features of ~all state occasions is the
singing of song by the school chill
dren which was composed for them
by Her Majesty. During the rendi-
ton of this song the children stand
with their hands bowed as if in pray
er. The Empress takes a great deal
of interest in all school work, and has
in her private apartments a large col
lection of the best specimens of poetry,
painting and composition done by the
pupils of the Empire.
A story is told which reveals the
kindness of Her Majesty's character.
Some years ago when the castle in
Toxic was burned the Emperor and
Empress were forced to take temper
airy quarters in a nearby house which
was old and rather out Of repair AL
though the proportions of the place
We're ample il was altogether lacking
in the luxuries OF the palace. rep
resentative of the people expressed TO
the Empress the grief which her sub
jects felt because she was denied her
usual conveniences. She arose to the
occasion by writing a graceful little
poem in which she said that il mat
tered little how she was situated so
long as she was sure of a home in
the hearts of her people.
Another story illustrates Her Ma
jesty's consideration for the happiness
of children One OF the little princes
ses once conceived the unreasonable |
idea of wanting TO give a cherry |
blossom party in 1acRu her Although |