A JAPANESE DERBY

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 December 1929, Page 10

A JAPANESE DERBY

WHERE THE BEST MAN WINS.

/ . y X_. X \ F / /T -,.y.X \ . j.. No one/ could , Japanesa priesthood (especially the Shint> variety® narrow.-inijided ah,d othei> worldly, least“of'amthe pripstly officp ials of the local* Hachiman shrines. .the-.jnost-popu.la>r deity i:i Japan’s patriotic pantheon, and s{ each'wjocajityhas/arSerine;dh hif honour, ours; .atl-Y—i—^, "‘being Quite at impressive structure. On- yoddinarJ days itxwould be,.—difficult >,td find * more restful wdlk than-''under the majestic trees<which surround it ant among its various 'Cobden buildings of antique style. ' Thesd bti-iWings consist in .the outer ,&nd of Hachiman and several other smaller shrines here and there to various favi, ourite Shinto deities',' and. the approach to each is marked by one or more of those torri,. or of wood 03 stone, and often coloured bright red, which are one of the most Characteristic features of Japan. '.Butsat each national hqliday thei Hachiman shrine is crowded with devotees,, Wbilst on the day sacred to Hachiman himself a matsuri, or festival, is held, which brings together the. largest crowd of all- <'. . I was inveigled into attending this year’s matsuri by one of liiyt students on the understanding was/ a “horse-running,”, and left to gather that in the same relation of patron saint to 6‘horse-rifnning’?-in-Japan •Lord Derjiy.'djd to The^nglish;form of r that sport." Jubt as'if‘ I were‘in England, there was a-afage when I feared that the-fhany sideshows would interfere with my the main event;, for the whole was up’ and doing with, all its .might to make a Japanese JDerby DaV. All the hoiises were bedight with the loyajk flags of the. Rising Sun, the pavementless street^—narrowed, on either side,,with--a vast array-of stalls, displaying such varied wares dwarf plants ,and shrubs,- shining goldr fish, cheap'novelties, cakes? 1 sweets', fruits, arid liquid refreshment —were more than filled to capacity'with a crowd whose intensity of enjoyment seemed to be in inverse proportion to ife>Tate of progress. At long last we Wriggled our way into the actual pre? cincts of the shrine, only to find that ‘many tarpriulim erections had been set up there to tempt us with displays of •>snake-charming, Geisha dancing,' arid similar vanities of the flesh. We began to fear that the race would be oVdr without' our patronage,-'When, onreaching }the' so’utherjr liniits/ of the shrine, wp.<_disftQyefed. also reached the “course.” * j,

THE COURSE. It was no smooth, green turf, farextending, but merely the street that bordered the shrine, with a full extent, of only a • hundred yards or so. Wrath now supervened on heat and botheration. “Come,” I protested, “this is too ridiculously small even for a tortoise Tace.”_ The student smiling:-, ly gave* me to understand” that that difficulty was solved, in some lunatic fashion. Three time each way would _ -tho -horses-run.-—--This —left—me ""the rather more amazed; for the street, at most, was only 12 feet wide, but at that moment looked no more than |a tiny, trickling path, owing to the encroachment of the crowds, about tdn deep, on either side. By what miraculous skill, I wondered, could airy madly runnin&Jiorse be made to turn, v not but, to be exac|:, ‘ iive-tilnes, a space! I Even as I wondered I felt a sharp, imperious jerk,;ahd found that ropes were being'stretrinedJbautlX-along eadh side of the “cpwse,” which, indeed, restored it . t 0 ,4 ifs original 12 feet of width, but to behead the sinaller iChikiren anti-’bisect myself as >we were\.thitust back into our exiguously propei- place. By a mighfiy effort, which brought the sweat to his brow, the student was able to reduce the rope to gasp, out that . . the “running” would begin. My compressed heart tried to leap.for joy. After all, I might yet l -live to seb jt. But the stewards, dr rather .priests, had still their funfitionrio perform, and, one must admit there was no false pride about then|. Whereas in England we employ num-

erous underlings to prepare the course, who, even’ with the aid of modem machinery, take tedious weeks and months“ about it; -here the priestfe themselves do the’job, and with marvellous simplicity and’, dispatch. Thera were two of them, one. robed in stiff green/the other instill stiffer white, and both wearing antique, tall, blacjc toppersr without brims, who paraded down The course and back, the green gentleman sweeping all,~£Xil spirits of the air with a branch of the sacred sakaki, whilst the white one threw salt over the ground on the tails of invisible dragons and oth.gr..vile wretches who might be likely to “queer the pitch.” When they had thus ensured .that, the pitch should be. equitably queer for all-comers they withdrew to one end. of the course to act as starters and judges. Th'e was on us quite suddenly. Two hQriesf swept fiercely down the “course,” ’their riders dressed like shabby;;p.ur.suivants, one in' red' (leading by a thick neck), the,-other in blue,and both in indescribable, flapping hats which'made the priests’ efforts in headgear look, commonplace- Only two •'horses!*,Never, rhlnd.As two can make a quarrel, so two can, surely make a race. There was plenty of excitement, anyway;, inevitably sq, when one is-so- close oh the horses as .to tremble lest his nose be bitten'off,, or his toes: crushed, ag,they gallop wildly past. . And ; the; erbwd kept up so loud and continuous, a shout of encouragement as would startle a hack into the speed of an Arab, -.. When they flashed, pastime, for the second time with red .still' leading, I “yearnedfor th e ~ Jap anese' ’, equivalent of a bookie to. take my Japanese equivalent of,a “hob/ Then,; .however r , as I craned my neck, I.saW that the riders slowed down completely, at each-turn-ing, and were deliberately set-pit in the same order each.time—-red always leading. z " ' - I expressed myself indignantly to my student,';-who raised, surprised eyebrows. “Red one win/. of- certain. He win alt time.’’. .... Then ,he rapidly explained' tb' me that/the shrine - has : two Hachi.mang, who * were, rivals . both brave and noble heroes, but one the patron of a less noble’clan than the other... Thia running was the symbol of their'.unceasing strife, and, of course;' Hachiman Taro; ihe’-patron of the great Minamoto clan, must always be victorious, whilst the crowd, by its sympathetic excitement, lived the contest over again, a contest which, after all, would satisfy the canons of 1 true the 1 best fija'n ’ alwaysiwih?- Can 1 'we '• /say. 1 more/for .the, 1 can'We say'as' much? / -a ~•• •“