A Japanese Music Hall.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, 15 July 1905, Page 60

A Japanese Music Hall.

A returned traveller adverted to th.? music halls of Japan with an air of disgust. "We wouldn’t like them here,” he said. ‘’They are too refined and subtle. Only poets and college professors would appreciate them. Audiences of the American type would imagine themselves in a museum or a church. "Take, for instance, the songs. "The Japanese song must be subtle and brief. 1 heard a singer come out and > ing:— "Born,, in no road ear, Endless the railway, How shall poor I reach Station in last? "That is the translation that my Japanese companion made of this song for me. The meaning of the piece was that the singer's love for his lady was lifelong. The railway typified life and the station typified death. "The man who sang the song was listened to with profound silence. The silence continued for several minutes after lie was done, and then there came an outburst of applause. The people were pleased. They were tickled to death. A great hit had been made. "So th? singer gave in encore. Tt was a marriage song, and it ran: — “Sleeping beside thee. No need of a pillow; Thy arm and my arm. Pillows are they. “Can you imagine the reception that such songs as ‘Borne in no road car’ and ‘Sleeping beside thee’ would get in an American music hall?” tt tt » » »