Page:The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893.djvu/362

 302 symbols and the catalogue of forces and personages which take part in the world of Japanese folk-lore. Of the mythology of the Japanese, the writer has already treated in one chapter of his work entitled: "The Mikado's Empire." The papers of the Asiatic Society also afford the student good aid in enjoying and interpreting the wonders of the Japanese imagination. Our paper is meant to be merely suggestive, and, therefore, we conclude our hasty survey by calling attention to the fact, that this branch of folk-lore finds its richest illustration in Japanese decorative art. Told first without a thought of ink or pen, and handed down from lip to ear, and from mouth to mouth during many generations, these stories were first committed to manuscript, and in some cases to print. At first the literary artist reproduced and elaborated these myths, setting them as jewels of the national literature. In Japan, where the skins of sheep or goats were never used as material for the author's page, the tattooer pricked in gay colors the nation's folk-lore on the human cuticle. To this day the backs of the betto contain the best illustrations of the favorites of the Japanese people. Yet they are also embodied in lacquer, ivory, crystal, carved wood, silk and paper. The artists have added, modified, and freshly and wittily interpreted the details. Usually loyal to the main outlines of the story, they allow their lambent wit to play over the surface, and here and there add bits of fancy, of color, of light, of mirth, which make Japanese art so rich in suggestion.

As the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1876, delighted so many thousands of visitors by showing, as it were, the photographs of the Japanese fancy and imagination in their art products, so it is possible that the World's Columbian Exposition in this city will surpass the former encyclopaedia of fancy and yield richer delight. Besides enjoying the sight of the Japanese works of art and use, admiring the technical perfection, and learning something of their processes, the visitor to the Exposition will wish to have insight into their art ideas, symbolism, mythology, and history. Almost every article of Japanese production, from the colossal vase and urn to the fan and the opening water-flower,