Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 1.djvu/241

 ornaments. The sheath of the sword, the quiver, and even the bow were magnificently lacquered and sometimes studded with gems. Gold lacquer was used even for ornamenting the sleeves. No self-respecting aristocrat failed to have a looking-glass on his person or to apply perfume to his clothes. A dignified bearing was sought by severity of line, and in the beginning of the twelfth century this foible had been carried so far that a well-dressed man looked as if his garments had been cut out of boards, and his movements were carefully studied to enhance that effect. He expended as much thought on his head-gear as a modern lady of the West does upon her hat, for though the orthodox shapes of head-covering did not present much variety, there were many little points upon which care and taste might be exercised. Colours, as has been already shown, served to distinguish ranks under the system inaugurated in the seventh century, but that rule having lost much of its force in the Heian epoch, families commenced to design badges for purposes of distinction. A long skirt also began to be used in this era as a mark of social status, but the innovation did not receive extravagant development until the succeeding period.

The viands of the time and the method of cooking and serving them, though not so varied and elaborate as those of modern days, nevertheless indicated a high state of refinement. It is