Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/294

 hanging there. Thence they pass, in the same order, to the hearth, where they inspect the urn. In these proceedings the rule is that so soon as the principal guest reaches the threshold of the tea pavilion, the next senior goes to the ewer and washes his hands, advancing thence to the door of the pavilion so soon as he sees the senior opposite the alcove, and thence to the alcove when the senior is in the neighbourhood of the hearth. This order is observed throughout. It is the duty of the junior guest to restore the tobacco-box to its place before leaving the waiting-room, and to pile the sitting cushions one upon the other. At reunions where lights are used, their management is also duly regulated. The last guest has to shut the door of the pavilion, not, however, before he has performed the prescribed circuit of the room and reached his appointed place. The first subject of conversation is the picture in the alcove. When the guests have expressed their opinions about it, the host replenishes the charcoal on the hearth. The length and thickness of the sticks of charcoal are fixed with precision according to the style of the hearth. So soon as the host raises the urn to put on the charcoal, the guests approach the hearth in order and examine it as well as the urn. When a furo (a pottery fire-box) is used, this examination is not made until a later stage; neither does the host replenish the charcoal. He merely wipes the rim of the furo,