Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

97

This perfume was composed of purified Borneo camphor, aloe wood and musk, and was used to perfume clothing, etc.

98

Hagi: violet-coloured dress with blue lining, the violet dye taken from sapan-wood; Shion: pale purple dress with blue lining.

99

A face covering used while sleeping.

100

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.

101

Ladies were crowded close behind the misu looking at the moon.

102

Hangings, screens, and clothes of attendants were all white at the time of a birth.

103

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.

104

Fudo: a terrible-looking Buddhist idol who was thought to have the power to subdue all evil spirits.

105

For good luck.

106

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.

107

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.

108

Kurodo = secretary (in charge of court manuscripts).

109

Everybody was still wearing white, colour of purification.

110

See frontispiece.

111

Every Japanese family does this to-day, for almost all gardens have artificial brooks or ponds.

112

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.

113

Nusa: rolls of silk or paper offered by a worshipper.

114

Because a birth in a house was defilement, while a messenger to or from a god was holy.

115

Saishi: a kind of gold ornament with five radiating points worn on the forehead and tied on around the head. (See frontispiece.)

116

This was to frighten away evil spirits.

117

Rice-scattering; for good luck.

118

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).

119

Purple and scarlet.

120

Karaginu: a short garment with long sleeves and worn of a different colour from the uchigi. (See frontispiece.)

121

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.)