The ceremony of giving mochi to the Prince is ended and the table is
taken away. The misu of the anteroom was rolled up, and we saw ladies
sitting crowded at the west side of the dais. There were Lady Tachibana
of the third rank, and Naishi Nosuké, the younger attendant of the
August Princes sitting in the doorway. In the east anteroom near the
shioji[104] there were ladies of high rank. I went to seek Lady
Dainagon and Lady Koshosho, who were sitting east of the dais. His
August Majesty sat on the dais with his dining-table before him. The
ornaments of it were exquisitely beautiful. On the south balcony there
sat the Minister of the Right and Left and the Chamberlain, the first
officials of the Crown Prince and of the Queen and the Great Adviser
Shijo, facing towards the North, the West being the more honourable
seat. There were no officials of low rank. Afterwards they begun to
amuse themselves. Courtiers sat on the southeast corridor of the
side building. The four lower officials took their usual places [on
the steps below Royalty] to perform some music. They were Kagemasa,
Korekazé, Yukiyoshi, Tonomasa. From the upper seat the Great Adviser
Shijo conducted the music. To no Ben played the lute, Tsunetaka played
the harp [koto]. The Lieutenant-General of the Left Bodyguard and State
Councillor played the flute. Some outsiders joined in the music. One
made a mistake in the notes and was hissed. The Minister of the Right
praised the six-stringed koto. He became too merry, and made a great
mistake, which sent a chill even to the onlookers.
The Prime Minister's gift was flutes put into two boxes.
[1] This diary seems to have been jotted down in disconnected
paragraphs and the editors have preserved that form.
[2] Tsuchimikado: the residence of Prime Minister Fujiwara, the father
of the Queen.
[3] Priests are praying for the easy delivery of the Queen, who has
gone to her parents' house before the birth, in accordance with old
Japanese custom.
[4] The writer of this diary lost her husband in 1001.
[5] Altars before Fudo, Gosansé, Gunsari, Daiitoku, Kongoyasha.
[6] See the plan of a great house of those days.
[7] Yorimichi, the Prime Minister Fujiwara Michinaga's son, who was
then sixteen years old.
[8] Misu: a thin finely woven bamboo curtain, behind which one may see
but not be seen, hung before great personages and women's apartments.
[9] Tonearasoi: at present not known.
[10] Imayo, or "new style," a kind of song in vogue in those days. The
verse consists of eight or ten alternating seven-and five-syllable
lines.
[11] This perfume was composed of purified Borneo camphor, aloe wood
and musk, and was used to perfume clothing, etc.
[12] Hagi: violet-coloured dress with blue lining, the violet dye taken
from sapan-wood; Shion: pale purple dress with blue lining.
[13] A face covering used while sleeping.
[14] Floss silk was used to protect chrysanthemum flowers from frost.
The flower itself was believed to have the virtue of lengthening life.
The Imperial garden party undoubtedly originated from a belief in this
virtue in the flower.
[15] Ladies were crowded close behind the misu looking at the moon.
[16] Hangings, screens, and clothes of attendants were all white at the
time of a birth.
[17] Which would otherwise have attacked the Queen. Some of the
ladies-in-waiting undertook this duty. There is a difference of opinion
between the translators as to whether this was done with the intention
of deceiving the evil spirits into attacking the wrong person (by
introducing into her neighbourhood other women surrounded with screens
and attendants) or by transmitting the supposed evil spirits out of the
Queen into her ladies by a sort of mesmerization.
[18] Fudo: a terrible-looking Buddhist idol who was thought to have the
power to subdue all evil spirits.
[19] For good luck.
[20] So that she might be ordained as a priestess and insured a good
reception in the next world, only done when the sick person is in great
danger.
[21] This was contrary to etiquette and shows the extreme excitement
of the moment. Ladies and gentlemen of the court remained in separate
rooms on social occasions.
[22] Kurodo = secretary (in charge of court manuscripts).
[23] Everybody was still wearing white, colour of purification.
[24] See frontispiece.
[25] Every Japanese family does this to-day, for almost all gardens
have artificial brooks or ponds.
[26] Imperial shrine at Isé: the oldest shrine, built 5 B.C., dedicated
to the Heaven Shining Goddess, ancestor of the Imperial family. This
shrine is rebuilt every twenty years on the same model. It is the most
sacred spot in Japan, and all serious events pertaining to the Empire
or Imperial Household are announced there to the Goddess-Ancestor by
Imperial Messenger.
[27] Nusa: rolls of silk or paper offered by a worshipper.
[28] Because a birth in a house was defilement, while a messenger to or
from a god was holy.
[29] Saishi: a kind of gold ornament with five radiating points worn on
the forehead and tied on around the head. (See frontispiece.)
[30] This was to frighten away evil spirits.
[31] Rice-scattering; for good luck.
[32] Here occurs an untranslatable sentence. Literally it would seem to
be: _It seems hair growing in good monochromatic picture_. That might
mean that the Queen seemed like a beauty in a picture drawn with ink
and brush (see some illustrations in this book).
[33] Purple and scarlet.
[34] Karaginu: a short garment with long sleeves and worn of a
different colour from the uchigi. (See frontispiece.)
[35] Uchigi: long unconfined flowing robe put on over the dress. It
was made of elegant material and lined with another colour and was the
distinctive and beautiful part of the court dress of that day. Under
it were worn two or more other silk robes of different colours, one
often intended to show through and modify the colour of the other. They
were fastened in front by a belt like the present-day kimono, and over
them was hung at the back the long and elaborate train of heavy white
silk on which the last word of elegance in embroidery or painting was
placed. In the presence of Royalty the ladies knelt in rows one behind
the other, and doubtless these trains made a great display spread out
before those sitting behind. (See frontispiece.)
[36] See frontispiece.
[37] Unemé: beautiful women, selected from various provinces for their
beauty, especially to wait on the Royal table.
[38] Mohitori: officials who had charge of wells, shoyu (Japanese
sauce) and ice-houses.
[39] Migusiagé: attendants whose hair was done up with hairpins.
[40] King's housekeepers.
[41] Cleaners.
[42] Da: a gambling game now not known. It was played with dice.
[43] (The following poem, then composed, is made with words of two
meanings. It is impossible to arrange it in poetic form in English, but
we present the two meanings in separate phrases, which the reader may
combine for himself.)
Japanese words with their meanings:
Mezurashiki hikari = uncommon light.
Sashi sou = { added.
{ pour more saké into.
Sakazuki wa = { waxing moon.
{ a cup.
Chiyomo = four a tousand ages.
{ circulate, O moon never waning!
Megurame = circulate { circulate the cup to all persons
{ countless times.
Poem.
First meaning:
_We pray that the waxing moon_ [i. e, the young Prince] _may never
wane, but shine for a thousand ages without change!_
Second meaning:
_May this cup_ [of joy] _be full as soon as emptied and circulate
freely to all!_
[44] A pleated divided skirt worn by both men and women.
[45] In Kioto it used to be the custom to cover the earth of the
gardens with very white fine sand.
[46] A school created in 825 A.D. by the Prime Minister Fujiwara
Fuyutsugu to educate the younger members of the Fujiwara family.
[47] This "court fashion" of sending rolls of silk as presents from the
Emperor or Empress prevails to-day, one thousand years later.
[48] This person was the second son of the Prime Minister; therefore
the Queen's brother or half-brother and uncle of the Crown Prince.
[49] The island of Horai; Japanese Elysium, a crystal island of eternal
youth and felicity, supposed to exist in mid-ocean. A miniature
presentation of this island is used on festal occasions as the emblem
of eternity, or unchangeableness.
[50] The Prime Minister wished to arrange a marriage between his eldest
son and the Prince's daughter. The authoress's cousin had adopted the
Prince's son.
[51] This incident has for some reason become very famous and artists
have used it as a subject for pictures. One of these is now hanging in
the Imperial Museum in Tokyo.
[52] Poems were written on oblongs of crimson, yellow, gold, or other
paper according to the feeling of the writer. Nowadays oblong poem
papers can be bought anywhere, but they are generally white or gray
with gold decoration.
[53] The King's visit was made October 16, 1008.
[54] It was _de rigueur_ for ladies to conceal their faces with fans.
[55] The left side is the more honourable position, but this time the
King sat at the right side because perhaps they could not move the
Queen's dais.
[56] A special effect of brilliant shining produced by beating the silk.
[57] A special effect of brilliant shining produced by beating the silk.
[58] These garments were evidently made of very thin material, colours
underneath being intended to modify the outer ones, hence the art of
dressing became very subtle.
[59] Doubtless this office was highly important and held in honour.
In those days poison and inferior foods were to be guarded against.
Throughout the journal it may be noticed that all directly serving the
King and Queen in any way are persons of high rank.
[60] In this curiously delicate operation the actual leaf or flower
from which the colour was obtained was rubbed onto the silk to make the
desired pattern.
[61] Light blue and some kinds of yellow are colours relegated to the
elderly in Japan. Babies and young people are dressed in bright colours
and showy patterns. The old wear plain stuffs and pale or dull colours.
[62] This dance was performed by court nobles at the coronation of the
present Emperor at Kioto, 1915.
[63] Artificial hills in Japanese gardens are intended to bring
mountain scenery to mind, whether large or small. They are sometimes of
considerable size.
[64] Reigned 970 to 984. This lady may have been his mistress or had
interesting reminiscences to relate.
[65] The feuds of the Fujiwara family. Fujiwara Fuhito had four sons
who became the founders of the four great Fujiwara families--Minami,
Kyo, Kita, and Shiki. They were all aspiring to the King's favour and
at enmity with each other, the present Prime Minister Michinaga far
outstripping the others in power.
[66] Mochi: a cake made of beaten rice flour paste.
[67] These dainty white wooden boxes of food arranged in a way pleasing
to the eye are still a feature of Japanese life. They are distributed,
with varying contents, at weddings and funerals, sold at railway
stations, and carried on picnics.
[68] At banquets a great cup was used which could contain one or two
quarts of liquor. When this was circulated among the guests each was
expected to empty the cup, and it was the pride of the drinker to toss
it off in one draught.
[69] The hero of Genji Monogatari.
[70] The Queen desired a literary Court to rival that of the first
Queen. See note on p. 131.
[71] A special kind of wild duck called oshidori which is always seen
in couples.
[72] Kokiden: residence of the first Queen.
[73] The World; i.e. matrimonial affairs.
[74] Three anthologies, of Ancient and Modern Poems, Later Selections
of Poems, and Miscellaneous Poems, respectively.
[75] These men were famous calligraphers.
[76] This famous dance, whose origin is given below, was performed at
the present Emperor's coronation at Kioto in 1915, by five daughters of
ancient noble families selected for their beauty. It is said that these
young ladies immediately thereafter received a great many offers of
marriage.
Gosetchi was a great holiday succeeded by two days of feasting. The
dancing girls (of the diary) were all daughters of persons of high
rank, three being daughters of courtiers and two daughters of province
governors. Tradition says that when King Tenmu was at his palace of
Yoshino, heavenly maidens came down and danced before him fluttering
the long celestial sleeves of their feathery dresses five times. This
was the origin of the dance.
[77] Each dancer was attended by helpers who were sometimes persons
of degree. Their duties were to arrange trains and costumes in the
postures of the dance.
[78] Her father was Keeper of the Seal. Her aunt was one of the queens.
[79] See signs of the zodiac, of Old Japan.
[80] The name of a detached hall in the Imperial Palace.
[81] Like the knights' tents in the tournaments each girl's apartment
was distinguished by special devices of cloths or banners hung before
it.
[82] Horai: an island of eternal life and felicity supposed to exist in
the eastern ocean. Horai symbolizes changelessness, and it must have
been intended as a hint at the impropriety of Sakyō's changed position.
[83] Festival of the ancient gods, for which preparation was made the
day before by fasting.
[84] This incident was very well known and is mentioned in several of
the writings of the period. The mirror is the symbol of the soul of a
Japanese woman. With the mirror Sakyō sent a poem:
_Alas! the waving moss deceived your vision._
_The clear mirror is never tarnished:_
_Therefore look deep._
[85] Mochi: it is still the custom in Japan to serve a cake made of
beaten rice on New Year's Day, the great festival of the year. The
sound of this beating is heard from house to house throughout the
country, and gives everybody a holiday feeling. The ceremonies last
three days.
[86] These colour combinations were very subtle because the effect was
produced by the play of one or perhaps two colours showing through one
another.
[87] One of the young women who had danced the Gosetchi.
[88] Fujiwara Michitaka, the Prime Minister's brother.
[89] This lady was one of the greatest poets Japan has ever produced.
See her diary, which is the record of her liaison with a young prince.
[90] A daughter of the famous court lady, poet, and historian Akazomé
Emon, to whom the court history of the time is traditionally ascribed.
[91] Seishonagon. A lady famous for her learning and wit and with a
little reputation for daring. Pretty and vivacious, learned and witty,
she was allowed liberties unrebuked--one may call her the New Woman of
the day. She served in the court of the first Queen Sadako, daughter
of the Prime Minister's brother. The two Queens were in rivalry.
Seishonagon was the literary light of that court, as Murasaki Shikibu
and Izumi Shikibu were of this.
[92] Because one may be bewitched; ancient belief dating from long
before her day.
[93] A koto is called a horizontal harp, but it consists of a number
of strings stretched the length of the instrument, the scale made by
an arrangement of bridges placed under the strings, and played upon by
four ivory keys worn on the four fingers of the right hand.
[94] Her husband who was a scholar in Chinese literature. He died in
1001. It is now 1008.
95
: Large and learned volumes by the Chinese scholar Seŭ-ma
Ch'ien.
[96] The Merciful Buddha of the West Paradise.
[97] It is believed that this Buddha comes to welcome the departing
soul of the believer mounted on a rainbow-coloured cloud.
[98] The great Enryakuji on Mount Hiyé, northeast of Kioto.
[99] A line from an old Chinese poem about Jofuku and Bunsei, seekers
of the herb of eternal life. When they entered the boat they were young
men, but were very old when they returned.
[100] The Japanese New Year ceremonies extend over three days.
[101] Both these little princes, grandsons of the Prime Minister,
eventually came to the throne.
[102] Toso: New Year's drink of spiced saké supposed to prolong life.
[103] The names of these colours are translated in modern terms.
The Japanese names of colours for dresses were all of colours in
combination, which often were called after flowers or plants. These
names could not convey the right idea. For instance, what is here
translated _old rose and white_, would be in those days called
_cherry_, intended to convey to the mind the thought of the cherry-tree
in bloom.
[104] Paper doors.