The principal _matsuri_ or Shinto festivals occur at different seasons of the year in different parts of the empire. The summer months, however, claim most of them. The _Kamo no aoi matsuri_ takes place at Kyoto and consists of a procession, a NO dance and a horse race. The picture appropriate for this festival is “the _Kamo_ race course” _(Kamo no kei ba)._ The _matsuri_ at Nikko is a great procession, with three _mikoshi_ or shrines carried on the shoulders of multitudes of men. There are three Nikko _matsuri_ connected with the Tokugawa shogunate.
_Inari,_ being the god of agriculture _(ine,_ rice), the picture of a fox (_Plate LXVI_, 4), that god’s messenger, is appropriate. Another festival, the GYON _matsuri,_ of Kyoto, is celebrated with a great procession in which enter all sorts of amusing floats and every kind of amusing practice. These are variously reproduced in commemorative paintings.
I will only refer in passing to the many subjects supplied by the beautiful poetry (HOKKU and _uta)_ and celebrated romances _(monogatari)_ of Japan. Enough has been said to show that the Japanese artist has an unlimited range of classic subjects from which to select.
Other subjects unassociated with any special time of the year represent, _e.g.,_ various utensils of the tea ceremony _(cha no yu)_ (_Plate LXVI_, 1) when _macha,_ a thickened tea, is used. The tea ceremony (_Plate II_) is performed in a small room fitted with four and a half mats. Were the mats only four (SHI) in number they would suggest death _(shi)._ Furthermore, an even number being considered negative (IN) is not favored. Mats are three by six feet in size and must always be so laid as not to form crosses, which are unlucky. In the alcove of this room no _kakemono_ is permitted but one in the pure Japanese style. The subject of the painting will depend upon the season, while all red colors are proscribed and _sumi_ pictures of the Kano school are most appropriate. The treatment must be simple (TAN PAKU); for instance, a single flower spray, a branch of the plum, a hermit, or a solitary mountain peak. In the ceremony of SEN CHA (_Plate LXVI_, 2), which is the Chinese way of making tea, these strict rules of _cha no yu_ are relaxed.