word used in one context with two or more meanings and is a valuable device for imparting much meaning in few words. In the literary forms this is not used in a humorous way, but in the folksong the pivot word often serves as a broad sort of pun (e.g., ‘koshimoto’ in Song 18, ‘irekuri’ in Song 53).
Onomatopoeia is common, usually for humorous effect, as in the description of a country headman’s gait “shakkuri, shakkuri” (Song 4b).
In general, each stanza, even of the same song, forms a separate thought and is complete in itself, so that a song such as Kuma Rokuchōshi consists of a number of stanzas which, while all dealing with Kuma, could be and are arranged in any order when sung. Thus, while words and tunes are standardized, arrangement and choice of stanzas is up to the singer. There are a few exceptions to this, as for instance the double stanzas of Shonga Odori (Nos. 73, 74) or the numbered series of stanzas in the Penis Song (No. 59) which are always sung in the same order.
III. Content
As to content, the two basic human needs of food and sex receive the most constant attention. The references to ordinary foods and to the drinking of wine are very frequent (e.g., Nos. 15, 50). The treatment of sex, though sometimes sentimental (Nos. 10, 26) is more often frank and vulgar (Nos. 8, 20). The old village custom of visiting a young lady in her room at night is reflected in Songs 12 and 38 and a broad humor, mostly sexual, is characteristic of many of the songs. In addition there is frequent parody of the solemn or serious (Nos. 4, 109). Simple descriptions of nature occur, as in Song 47, but there is a remarkable lack of reference to the seasons, the words winter, summer, spring, and autumn being almost completely absent. Together with this there is a general lack of any personification of the forces of nature. There are similes such as comparing a woman to a flower but no metaphor unless one can consider secondary hidden meanings read into a song as metaphor (No. 51).
Judging by the content, the songs for the most part date from the Yedo period—eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. An occasional use of some place name no longer existing or a thing no longer used, as the coin ryō in Song 62, would indicate an age of one hundred years or so. No examples of ancient poetry such as that found in the Manyōshū were discovered. While some of the dialect used may appear to a Japanese reader as archaic, it is no different from the current Kuma dialect of Japanese which contains many old speech forms no longer current among the speakers of standard Japanese in Tokyo.
A striking feature of Japanese folksong is its similarity to Japanese literary forms, a reflection perhaps that in many ways Japanese culture is firmly im-
