ousand riyos (about L300) as their yearly salary. This,
however, is a high rate of pay, and many a man has to strut before the
public for little more than his daily rice; to a clever young actor it
is almost enough reward to be allowed to enter a company in which
there is a famous star. The salary of the actor, however, may depend
upon the success of the theatre; for dramatic exhibitions are often
undertaken as speculations by wealthy persons, who pay their company
in proportion to their own profit. Besides his regular pay, a popular
Japanese actor has a small mine of wealth in his patrons, who open
their purses freely for the privilege of frequenting the greenroom.,
The women's parts are all taken by men, as they used to be with us in
ancient days. Touching the popularity of plays, it is related that in
the year 1833, when two actors called Bando Shuka and Segawa Roko,
both famous players of women's parts, died at the same time, the
people of Yedo mourned to heaven and to earth; and if a million riyos
could have brought back their lives, the money would have been
forthcoming. Thousands flocked to their funeral, and the richness of
their coffins and of the clothes laid upon them was admired by all.

[Footnote 37: I allude to the _Tai Hei Nem-piyo,_ or Annals of the
Great Peace, a very rare work, only two or three copies of which have
found their way into the libraries of foreigners.]

"When I heard this," says Terakado Seiken, the author of the _Yedo
Hanjoki_, "I lifted my eyes to heaven and heaved a great sigh. When my
friend Saito Shimei, a learned and good man, died, there was barely
enough money to bury him; his needy pupils and friends subscribed to
give him a humble coffin. Alas! alas! here was a teacher who from his
youth up had honoured his parents, and whose heart know no guile: if
his friends were in need, he ministered to their wants; he grudged no
pains to teach his fellow-men; his good-will and charity were beyond
praise; under the blue sky and bright day he never did a shameful
deed. His merits were as those of the sages of old; but because he
lacked the cunning of a fox or badger he received no patronage from
the wealthy, and, remaining poor to the day of his death, never had an
opportunity of making his worth known. Alas! alas!"

The drama is exclusively the amusement of the middle and lower
classes. Etiquette, sternest of tyrants, forbids the Japanese of high
rank to be seen at any public exhibition,