OBSERVANCES AND PASTIMES
would be difficult to decide whether he or the koshaku-shi is the greater artist. Both are certainly great, and each is without parallel in any other country.[1]
To speak of a yose as a "hall" is to suggest a somewhat exaggerated idea of its quality and arrangements. A ruder or more comfortless place could scarcely be conceived,—the building rough and totally undecorated; the floor covered with mats but not divided into compartments; the gallery equally without redeeming feature except a semblance of privacy; the dais for the performers slightly elevated but entirely without ornamentation or scenic background. Such is the yose. A visitor, whatever his degree, pays an entrance fee varying from two and one-half to six sen, makes a further disbursement of half a sen for the hire of a cushion, and, thus equipped, seats himself wherever he can find floor-space. If the weather be cold, he spends a sen and a half on a brazier to be laid beside his cushion, and it still remains possible to squander the same sum on a pot of tea and a tiny drinking-cup, though economical folks find tea at one sen sufficiently palatable. Thus a total outlay of nine and one-half sen may be compassed, the return for which is from three to four hours' entertainment. The raconteur and the humourist are not the only performers. There are also experts in recitative (joruri), in juggling, in puppet playing, and some-
- ↑ See Appendix, note 36.
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