Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/67

Rh powerful educators. It was especially the case with the epical dramas, particularly historical dramas, such as The Battle of Ichinotani, The Treason of Mitsuhidé, and The Sendai-Hagi, in which the principles of bushidō are preached most eloquently through the mouths of the characters. Thus, some of the epical dramas were, so to speak, the text-books of bushidō, for the common classes of the Yedo Period. Nobody can deny the epical dramas and their chanters the honour of having been important agents of social education.

Gidayū chanters, both professional and amateur, when they chant in public, wear kataginu (a sort of cape) and hakama (like a pair of loose trousers), and sit in a respectful attitude before a kendai, or bookstand, on which a book containing the text printed in large characters is placed. Then, with their hands on their laps, and with all their energy concentrated on their abdomens, they chant forth loudly and musically to the accompaniment of the samisen. The chanter himself often plays the instrument, while he chants the drama. But more frequently, other hands play the instrument. A chanter combines in himself an opera singer and an elocutionist; and it may safely be said that