Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/63

Rh is as old as that of chanters. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, there was in Yedo a great chantress named Rokuji Namuyemon. As time went on chantresses increased in number and popularity, until in the beginning of the nineteenth century there were in Yedo a hundred halls exclusively used for their recitations. But in 1842 their performances were prohibited by the authorities on account of certain abuses, and Toyotaké Hazan and a few other great chantresses were thrown into prison, where they died. In consequence of this chantresses went out of existence. In fifteen years or so, however, the prohibition became lax, and chantresses again became popular. Nowadays, in Osaka and Kyoto, as well as in Tokyo, musumé-gidayū or girl chanters, as they are generally called, are far more numerous than male chanters. It must be remarked in passing, that every geisha can chant one or two acts of some famous drama or other.

Besides professional chanters, there are numerous amateur chanters throughout Japan. Among various circles of people, the chanting of the epical dramas has been popular from of old. They assiduously take lessons in the art from