In Ghostly Japan | Page 6

to acquire three especially polite accomplishments, --the art of
arranging flowers, (ikebana), the art of ceremonial tea-making
(cha-no-yu or cha-no-e),(1) and the etiquette of incense-parties
(ko-kwai or ko-e). Incense-parties were invented before the time of the
Ashikaga shoguns, and were most in vogue during the peaceful period
of the Tokugawa rule. With the fall of the shogunate they went out of

fashion; but recently they have been to some extent revived. It is not
likely, however, that they will again become really fashionable in the
old sense,--partly because they represented rare forms of social
refinement that never can be revived, and partly because of their
costliness.
In translating ko-kwai as "incense-party," I use the word "party" in the
meaning that it takes in such compounds as "card-party," "whist-party,"
"chess-party";--for a ko-kwai is a meeting held only with the object of
playing a game,--a very curious game. There are several kinds of
incense-games; but in all of them the contest depends upon the ability
to remember and to name different kinds of incense by the perfume
alone. That variety of ko-kwai called Jitchu-ko ("ten-burning-incense")
is generally conceded to be the most amusing; and I shall try to tell you
how it is played.
The numeral "ten," in the Japanese, or rather Chinese name of this
diversion, does not refer to ten kinds, but only to ten packages of
incense; for Jitchu-ko, besides being the most amusing, is the very
simplest of incense-games, and is played with only four kinds of
incense. One kind must be supplied by the guests invited to the party;
and three are furnished by the person who gives the entertainment.
Each of the latter three supplies of incense--usually prepared in
packages containing one hundred wafers is divided into four parts; and
each part is put into a separate paper numbered or marked so as to
indicate the quality. Thus four packages are prepared of the incense
classed as No. 1, four of incense No. 2, and four of incense No. 3,--or
twelve in all. But the incense given by the guests,--always called
"guest-incense"--is not divided: it is only put into a wrapper marked
with an abbreviation of the Chinese character signifying "guest."
Accordingly we have a total of thirteen packages to start with; but three
are to be used in the preliminary sampling, or "experimenting"--as the
Japanese term it,--after the following manner.
We shall suppose the game to be arranged for a party of six,-- though
there is no rule limiting the number of players. The six take their places
in line, or in a half-circle--if the room be small; but they do not sit close
together, for reasons which will presently appear. Then the host, or the
person appointed to act as incense-burner, prepares a package of the
incense classed as No 1, kindles it in a censer, and passes the censer to

the guest occupying the first seat, (2) with the announcement--"This is
incense No 1" The guest receives the censer according to the graceful
etiquette required in the ko-kwai, inhales the perfume, and passes on
the vessel to his neighbor, who receives it in like manner and passes it
to the third guest, who presents it to the fourth,--and so on. When the
censer has gone the round of the party, it is returned to the
incense-burner. One package of incense No. 2, and one of No. 3, are
similarly prepared, announced, and tested. But with the "guest-incense"
no experiment is made. The player should be able to remember the
different odors of the incenses tested; and he is expected to identify the
guest-incense at the proper time merely by the unfamiliar quality of its
fragrance.
The original thirteen packages having thus by "experimenting" been
reduced to ten, each player is given one set of ten small tablets--usually
of gold-lacquer,--every set being differently ornamented. The backs
only of these tablets are decorated; and the decoration is nearly always
a floral design of some sort:-- thus one set might be decorated with
chrysanthemums in gold, another with tufts of iris-plants, another with
a spray of plum- blossoms, etc. But the faces of the tablets bear
numbers or marks; and each set comprises three tablets numbered "1,"
three numbered "2," three numbered "3," and one marked with the
character signifying "guest." After these tablet-sets have been
distributed, a box called the "tablet-box" is placed before the first
player; and all is ready for the real game.
The incense-burner retires behind a little screen, shuffles the flat
packages like so many cards, takes the uppermost, prepares its contents
in the censer, and then, returning to the party, sends the censer upon its
round. This time, of course, he does not announce what kind of incense
he has used. As the censer passes from hand to hand, each player, after