Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/474

462 is only 10 sen, or twopence halfpenny, with 3 sen for every following five Kana. The name and address of the receiver go free. Telegrams in foreign languages within the empire are charged at the rate of 5 sen per word, with a minimum charge of 25 sen (sixpence farthing) for the first five words or fraction of five words; but addresses count. For city local traffic it is only 3 sen per word, with a minimum charge of 15 sen.

The number of offices open for public business at the end of 1902 was 2,201. The length of wire open at the same date was 18,565 miles. The number of messages conveyed during that year was over eighteen millions, the overwhelming majority of them being in the native tongue. This, too, in a land where, but a generation ago, the hatred of foreigners and all their works was still so intense, especially in the South, that linemen had to be kept constantly busy repairing the hacked poles! In fact, many Japanese would not willingly pass under the wires, and if compelled to do so, would screen their heads with open fans to avert the diabolical influence.

 Theatre. The Japanese theatre claims a peculiar importance, as the only remaining place where the life of Old Japan can be studied in these radical latter days. The Japanese drama, too, has an interesting history. It can be traced back to religious dances of immemorial antiquity, accompanied by rude choric songs. An improvement was made in these dances at the beginning of the fifteenth century, when some highly cultivated Buddhist priests and the pleasure-loving Shōgun Yoshimasa took the matter in hand, and inaugurated a new departure by combining the religious dances with popular tales whose themes were history and legend, and with snatches of poetry culled from various sources. It had been the custom, during the earlier Middle Ages, for a certain class of minstrels to recite the tales in question to the accompaniment of the lute. Thus, on a double basis, helped on too perhaps by some echo from the China stage, yet independently developed, the Japanese lyrical drama