Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/109

 ordered that vigorous scrutiny should be made, and that persons suspected of gambling might be arrested,—which meant that they were thrown into prison or probably subjected to torture. Again, in 1788, the prohibition was renewed, and its terms declared applicable to all classes, the magistrates being at the same time directed to undertake strict investigations in quarters of serving-men, in temples and shrines, and even in mansions of feudal nobles. But all these measures failed to achieve their purpose. The Japanese, like the Chinese, seem to have an inborn love of gambling. Great fortunes are not lost and won, as was formerly the case in Europe, but in no other nation does the passion extend so deeply into the lower orders of society. Crimes, numerous and serious, have been caused by the practice, and there is no violation of the law against which the police adopt more stringent measures. The "parent-loafers" place their houses at the disposal of gamblers, employing their "children" to give warning of any symptoms of police authority. They further organise a system of espionage which enables them to interrupt games in private houses and to levy hush money from the inmates. There are also in the great cities many buildings called machiai-jaya (assignation tea-house), where rooms may be hired and dinners or suppers obtained from neighbouring restaurants, the society of dancing-girls being an almost invariable element of the programme. These places are a