XL THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



A S we stated previously, the chrysanthemum, in Japanese calen- 

 -f~i- dars, generally belongs to the ninth month (o. c.), or October. 

 This is probably due to the fact that the fifth great festival, the Kiku 

 no Sekku (Festival of the Chrysanthemum) fell on the ninth day of 

 the ninth month (o. c.), or toward the end of October. But we 

 took the liberty to change that order, simply because the Emperor's 

 birthday comes on November 3, and the sixteen-petalled chrysanthe- 

 mum has been for a long time the imperial emblem. Moreover, the 

 annual Chrysanthemum Garden Party, given at one of the imperial 

 palaces, falls in November. The difficulty in harmonizing the two 

 calendars (old and new) arises from the fact that the ninth month of 

 the old calendar covers portions of both October and November. 



The chrysanthemum blossoms are of various shapes, sizes, and 

 colors; but, according to Mr. Conder, "the yellow kind ranks first." 

 It is, in fact, said that there are almost 300 different shades of color 

 in about 800 varieties of chrysanthemum raised in Japan. One can 

 find, moreover, "gigantic flowers, microscopic flowers, plants of 

 single [huge] blossom, and single plants of 200 [600 to 700] blos- 

 soms."* In November,. 1902, in the Imperial Gardens, Tokyo, there 

 was one plant with 1272 blossoms, each 2.y 2 inches in diameter! And 

 one of the great curiosities of the chrysanthemum season is, of 

 course, the view of living pictures" at such a place, for instance, as 

 Dango-zaka in Tokyo. This is the Japanese esthetic variation of 

 the Occidental prosaic wax-works. 



The chrysanthemum and the fox are commonly associated ideas 

 in art and literature on account of an old tale to the following effect, 

 as related by Dr. Griffis : "A fox, assuming the form of a lovely 

 woman, bewitched a certain prince. One day, happening to fall 

 asleep on a bed of chrysanthemums, she resumed her normal shape. 

 The prince, seeing the animal, shot at him, hitting the fox in the 



* Miss Scidmore's Jinrikisha Days in Japan. 



