Page:Sketches of Tokyo Life (1895).djvu/97

Rh wished to discover his fortune went to a cross-road and, after praying to the local deity, waited till people passed by him. The chance words he caught from the third man who walked past him gave the key to his fate. Much ingenuity was required in the interpretation. Tsujiura has, however, in course of time, acquired quite a different meaning. It now consists of short prognostications printed on little pieces of paper which are put into confectionery. These are sold at night by street-venders who have always a towel on the head and carry a large paper lantern.

The most important form of divination is eki, literally meaning “changes,” which was made the subject of a learned dissertation by Confucius. It is said to have been introduced from China in the fourth century after Christ. In this process, six little wooden blocks and fifty divining sticks are used. The blocks which are about an inch square and five inches long, are plain on one face, but are in the middle of the opposite face marked with a red square. The blocks are taken in two sets of three each. As, in arranging them side by side, the blocks may be either plain or marked with the square, eight combinations are possible in either set; thus:—

As these simple combinations apply to either set, the total number of combinations of the six blocks is sixty-four.