TOKIO’S BAZAAR STREET,

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17985, 2 April 1930, Page 14

TOKIO’S BAZAAR STREET,

IWILDERED by the strangeness and the novelty of life in Tokio, the visitor is apt to receive its Oriental picturesqueness in a single Impression, but" with sympathy

mallet that gives fortune with a single stroke. Ebisu, his son, sits beside mm, holding a tai, a species of fish, and a fishrod. Their faces are always smiling, and they have big ears a sign of wealth and fortune. The Seven Benevolences. In reality, there are seven gods of good luck: Fukurokuju, distinguished by ail incongruously elongated head, who is a; tended by a crane, a deer or a tortoise, the bestownr of wisdom; Diakoku, the of wealth, seated on a pair of rice bales and accompanied by a rat; Ebisu, bearino- a fish, Hotei, with an enormous naked stomach, with a bag on his back and a fan in bis hand; Bishamon, clad in armour, carrying a spear and a toy pagoda; Benton, tho only woman in the group, having it in her power to confer riches, eloquence and wisdom, is attended by the serpent or the dragon ; the ged is Jurojin, a sort of duplicate of kukurokuju, the first one mentioned, who represents longevity.

and discernment it jjoon. brings individual impressions and Teveals itself as a city of inexhaustible Surprises. Ginza, the world-famous street of loklo where the purse of the visitor is enchanted and tempted to bankruptcy, is its recognised centre. It s a broadway of Oriental emphasis in spite of the modern architecture that marfced its reconstruction aftor the earthquake, for Occidental innovation has been set into an Oriental frame. Business houses are identified by esoteric letterings; strange white, black, red and [gold ideographs are on shop awnings and doors ; perpendicular characters adorn huge red and blue banners that undulate in the •breeze, and living characters throng the pavement dressed in the traditional kiniobo of the country, the kronch, kronch, kronch of their wooden geta falling upon •the ears of the visitor with a rhythmic Sonority of sound. At night the Ginza is transformed. It a blaze of light and filled with temporary booths and stalls, on which are displayed multitudinous objects that fairly bewilder the sightseer with their variety Tamo mice run at will over the hands and arms of vendors, tiny birds m wooden cages huddle sleepily together, singing imects in tiny fantastically designed reed houses hum unceasingly, miniature miracle trees appeal to the nature lover, artificial flowers so cunningly fashioned they deceive the eye, and lobsters and crabs of legendary interest. Over all the numerous images of good fortune displayed on the pavements Diakoku and Ebisu take precedence. They are • always together. Diakoku, seated on his bales of rice, grasping in one hand the

Connected with the seven gods of good luck is the Takara-bune, or "treasure ship,” with the seven gods as passengers, and as cargo the takaramono, or "treasures” of popular lore, which include the hat and raincoat of invisibility in the keeping of Benton, the sacred key, possessed by Bishamon; the inexhaustible purse, the hammer weight and coin of Daikokn; -the precious jewellery guarded by Fukurokuju; the scrolls of Hotel, for those who would be writers of note. Hotei is also the god of epicureans, and all who take delight in culinary science. Pictures of the "treasure ship” are hawked about the streets at New Year s time, and the superstitious person who puts one under his pillow on the night

World-Famous Ginza. Big Ears of Wealth and Fortune . The Seven Gc::o of Good Luclc.

of January 2 believes lie will nave a lucky dream. At the side o! the picture is a verse, which, when read in Japanese, is arranged so that when read backward it gives the same text. Translated it reads. A long night! A long distance trip; A ship astride the waves A sweet melody brings. Quaint Superstitions. The mon, or insignia on the sail of the ship, is the tapir, who devours bad dreams. Aboard tho ship, in tho keeping of I the ( »ods is the ladle that dips wealth. There are also other symbols on hoard that signify the activities of-life and the multiplicity of ways to acquire wealth, fame and fortune. , . Ebisu, Daikoku and Bishamon reveal their origin in tho Chinese shoes they wear, as does Benten, the goddess of art and music, whose robe is in the Chinese fashion of 2000 years and more ago.

These seven gods have been gathered from many sources. Some of them have had their origin in Chinese Taoism, Indian Buddhism and Brahmanism. Much rclat. ing to them has been lost in superstition, and they cannot be traced further back than the seventeenth century.

All of these, and many other quaint and superstitious fancies, are to be found on the Ginza among other and more practical offerings. The multitude, wearing an air of expectancy as they look upon the display of the booths, have that mysterious Japanese smile that never changes, even under the cruel, grinding hand of modern industrial life At 11 o clock the lights are dimmed. By midnight the booths aro gone, the Ginza deserted, and tho vendors sonnd in sleep.