Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/405

 four well-known experts whose ateliers went by the name of Masu-ya. They were, Uyemura Kuninaga (1680), of Kyōtō, known as "Masu-ya Kuhei;" Uyemura Kichibei, of Kyōtō, known as "Masu-ya Kichibei;" Torii Jōkwo, of Ōsaka, known as Masu-ya Uhei; and Uyemura Munemine (1720), or Masu-ya Kihei.  —Miidera is the name of a famous temple on the shore of Lake Biwa in Omi. An autumn evening on the lake while the bell of the temple tolls is one of the "Eight Views" of Omi.  —One of Jōi's guards (shakudo) carries the picture known as Munetaka no Matsu. On the face, Yoshitsune, in full armour, rides to his final victory over the Taira; on the reverse, a troop of armed men with halberds and banners, appear partially above the rim of the guard so as to suggest distance and numbers. This guard was sold forty years ago to a Japanese provincial magnate for the equivalent of about 500 yen in the currency of the present time.  —The attention of collectors should be drawn to one point connected with the Hamano experts. It is that among the eleven art names used by Shōzui, four (Otsuriuken, Miboku, Rifudo, and Kankyo) appear upon the works of Masanobu, and two (Otsuriuken and Miboku) upon the works of Norinobu. Thus a specimen cannot be exactly identified merely because it bears one or more of these names. Another point is that Masayoshi, a pupil of Shōzui, was called "Shōzui Bozu" (old man Shōzui), and being exceptionally skilful as an imitator of old masterpieces, did not hesitate to copy the works of his teacher and to mark them Shōzui.  —These details were first published by Mr. W. Gowland.  —It is related of Hidari Jingoro that when a friend recommended him to exercise more caution with the view of emerging from a condition of extreme poverty, he replied, "Pleasure lies hidden in poverty. Does not the plum blossom in snow?"  —This was called nata-gake, nata being the term for hatchet.  —Round the four sides of a Japanese chamber, at a height of six feet, runs a horizontal beam of finely grained knotless timber, nailed at intervals to similar vertical beams. The beauty of the timber being a cardinal feature, it is necessary to conceal the nail-heads. That is effected by fastening over them pieces of metal chiselled in various shapes and designs. <section end="Note 51" /> <section begin="Note 52" />—The mirror is said to have belonged to the Emperor Shomu. <section end="Note 52" /> <section begin="Note 53" />—Mr. Bowes maintained his views with remarkable firmness. No Japanese collection, public or private, contained any <section end="Note 53" />