The Japanese Collections 11 



with dice. The board upon which it is played in 

 surimono No. 151513 is now out of use. 



Juroku-mushashi ("sixteen knights") played on a 

 board marked in diagonally cut squares, with sixteen 

 paper pawns. 



Kai Awase. A set of 360 clam shells, one-half bear- 

 ing a picture of a poet to be matched with the other 

 half bearing a poem. 



Uta garuta ("poem cards"). A set of forty-eight 

 on half of which are the first two lines of twenty-four 

 poems, on the other half the last two lines. 



The gathering of shells, the viewing of blossoms, 

 and the listening to singing insects are all delightful 

 pastimes of the Japanese, being occasions of organized 

 parties in which men, as well as women, enjoy 

 themselves. 



The accomplishments of a cultured person include 

 the arts of painting, writing of poetry, caligraphy, 

 music, flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony. The 

 two last-named are outlined by stringent rules, and 

 have for many centuries been held in high esteem, many 

 different schools devoted to these two arts being in 

 existence. 



The third series of surimono illustrates certain of 

 the household gods and several of the heroes of Japa- 

 nese history and folk-lore. The story of Amaterasu, 

 the Sun Goddess and heavenly ancestor of the Japanese 

 rulers, is illustrated by three prints on the north wall. 

 The legend of the Sun Goddess' retirement into a cave, 

 with the consequent darkening of the whole world, is 

 probably a primitive explanation of a solar eclipse. 

 She was lured forth from the cave by a dancer with an 

 assembly of musicians and gods, who are here repre- 

 sented by a drummer and one of the divinities. 



[in 



