Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
comfortably into the cup thus formed by the feet. Men could sit with crossed legs when
there was no need for formality, but women were not allowed this liberty. When women
were greeting, bidding farewell, or receiving an order, the hands were placed on the floor
andanobeisance wasmade bylowering theforehead downbetween thehands,atthesame
time elegantly keeping the buttocks as low as possible. Men did not go so low. When mak-
ing greetings in the street, however, one remained standing, and bowed from the hips; only
when a considerable superior, like a
daimyō,
went by did people have to get down on the
ground to make obeisance when out of doors.
It was thought most impolite to breathe upon people. Thus, when talking to a superior,
thehandwasheldinfrontofthemouth.Thesamecompunctionwaspresentwhenhandling
a missive from some elevated personage, or when a
shintō
priest handled some sacred ob-
ject; on such occasions a piece of paper was put in the mouth to prevent the breath defiling
it. It was also impolite to perform greetings while wearing any kind of working equipment.
Women, for example, might put a cloth over the head to keep the dust off their hair; they
would also wear a band of material going under their arms and behind their neck, in which
totuckthelongsleevesoftheir
kimono
tokeepthemoutofthewayoftheirwork.Eitherof
these would have to be removed before speaking to a guest or a superior. Similarly, a man
with his towel knotted round his brow to keep the sweat from his eyes, or wearing a pair of
the tortoiseshell-framed spectacles that were in use at the time, would take them off before
making his bow.
Entrance and exit to and from a room was through a sliding partition. When a servant
brought a tray for a meal, she would first kneel down in the corridor before the section
of wall that she was to open, place the tray on the floor, and slide open the section; then
she would stand up, step inside, go down again on to the floor, bring in the tray, slide the
section shut, pick up the tray, stand up, take it to the guest, get down on the floor, bow to-
wards him, and then serve him some
sake.
To a modern Westerner it would seem a tedious
business; itinvolvedalmost acrobatic skillonthepartofthewomenconcerned, butwas
de
rigueur
in polite households and in almost all inns.
In the best room of the house, the one in which the guests were entertained, there was
an alcove, which varied in size, but was often from one-half to a whole mat (i.e. three to
six feet) wide, going right up to the ceiling, and at least 18 inches deep; its floor was raised
above that of the rest of the room. In it hung a scroll, with a picture or text on it, which
would be changed from season to season. The alcove
(toko-no-ma)
was also a suitable
place for a decorative pot, or a flower-arrangement, or for displaying a family sword. The
most important of the guests would be seated with his back to the
toko-no-ma,
and if the
precedence was not immediately obvious, there would be much polite disclaiming of the
honor before they finally settled down. The same problem existed when it was a question
of who should pass first through a narrow space, although when a man was in no doubt as
