William Poel. Formerly these plays were given by the local youths; now
professional actors are employed. The different acts of the historical
dramas which were performed were divided into half a dozen scenes, and
when one of these scenes had been enacted the stage was wheeled
farther along the street. At the conclusion of each scene some three
dozen small boys, all wearing the white-and-black speckled cotton
kimono and German caps which are the common wear of lads throughout
Japan, would swarm up on the stage, and, with fans waved downwards,
would yell at the pitch of their voices an ancient jingle, which
seemed to signify "Push, push, push and go on!" This was addressed to
a score or so of young men who with loud shouts hauled the heavy
stage-wagon along the street. The performances on the four moving
theatres went on simultaneously and sometimes the cars passed one
another. The performances were given on the eve and on the day and
through the night of the festival. The acting was amazingly good,
considering the July heat and the cramped conditions in which the
actors worked. Happy boys sat at the back of the scenes fanning the
players. Our kindly and voluble landlady was not satisfied with the
number of times the stages stopped before her inn. She loudly
threatened the youths who were dragging them that she would reclaim
some properties she had lent and tell her dead husband of their
ingratitude!

At one of the booths which had been opened for the festival by a
strolling company there were women actors, contrary to the convention
of the Japanese stage on which men enact female rôles and in doing so
use a special falsetto. Some of these actresses performed men's parts.
At every performance in a Japanese theatre, as I have already
mentioned, a policeman is provided with a chair on a special platform,
or in an otherwise favourable position, so that he can view and if