ground-floor is laid out with miniature lakes and bridges, the
audience looking down on the performance from lateral and opposite
galleries.

The stage is a little smaller than ours, but sometimes has a promenade
through the centre of the theatre, which facilitates by-play, to which
the Japanese attach great importance. The body of the house is divided
into boxes, which are generally taken by family parties, who bring
their provisions with them and remain all day, as the performances
begin about 10 A.M. and last until late in the evening. Their plays
are very tedious, although enlivened by a good deal of smart
_repartée_ and telling jokes, but the morality even of the most
correct is very questionable. Love, of course, is the prevailing
feature; and the adventures of the principal heroes contain enough
bloodshed and murder to satisfy the most ardent admirer of sensation
dramas. In their hand-to-hand encounters they cut and slash at one
another with naked swords, which they manage very skilfully, never
permitting the blades to come into contact. The female parts are
performed by boys and young men, who, with the assistance of paint and
powder, make admirable substitutes for women, though singing and
dancing-girls are frequently introduced as divertissements.

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A THEATRE.]

[Illustration: Getting ready to go to the Theatre.]

Kite-flying is also a favourite amusement; and old age and childhood
may frequently be seen side-by-side, tugging at soaring monsters, in
the construction of which great ingenuity is displayed.