JAPAN. 



491 



Japanese actors. It seems a fair conjecture that the streaks on 

 these heads are a direct survival of an actual former savage 

 form of painting, which was 

 once in vogue in China, pro- 

 bably used to make fighting- 

 men hideous. 



It is well known that pri- 

 mitive customs survive in con- 

 nection with funerals all over 

 the world with extreme tenacity. 

 The numerous interesting sur- 

 vivals existing in the case of 

 English funerals are familiar. 



The accompanying figure 

 of a Japanese actor's painted 

 face is copied from a Japanese 

 theatrical picture-book. The 

 head of the Chinese servant is 

 drawn from one which I bought 

 at a manufactory of funeral 

 properties in Hong Kong. 



The Chinese are not now tattooed, but in Japan the art of 

 tattooing has reached far greater perfection than anywhere else. 

 Formerly all the coolies were tattooed, often all over the body, 

 but now the practice is forbidden by the Japanese Government 

 as barbarous, and it is a criminal offence to practise the art. 



The tattooing was done by special artists, who made this 

 their business. The outline of the subject to be tattooed is first 

 sketched on the skin with great care with the point of a fine 

 brush with Indian ink. The subjects are copied from printed 

 pattern-books, which are very abundant in Japan, suited to all 

 classes of decorative art. 



The outline having been drawn, a light wooden handle, like 

 that of a camel's-hair brush, is used, having about five or six 

 fine needles set in its end in a straight line. The needles are 

 dipped in Indian ink, and the fingers of the left hand being used 

 as a guide, the outline is cut in on the skin by a series of punc- 

 tures with the needles, which in the hands of a skilful operator 



HEAD OF FIGURE BUKNT AT CHINESE FUNERALS. 

 MADE OF PASTE-BOARD. 



(To show the mode of painting the face.) 



