The wardrobes and the scenery are elaborate and magnificent. The former are often almost priceless heirlooms handed down from one generation to another. Changes of wardrobe are often made in the presence of the audience; an actor, by dropping off one robe (which is immediately carried away by a small boy), entirely metamorphoses his appearance. One convenient arrangement of the scenery is that of the revolving stage, so that, as an old scene gradually disappears, the new one is coming into view. The supernumeraries, moreover, though theoretically invisible, are distinctly present, but seem to distract neither players nor audience. The female parts are usually taken by men dressed as women; and animals are represented by either men or wooden models. The orchestra plays an exceedingly important part in a Japanese drama. It consists of the _samisen_ (a guitar of three strings), the _fue_ (flute), and the _taiko_ (drum). It plays, not between the acts to entertain the spectators, but, like the Greek chorus, during the scene, to direct and explain the drama. Pantomime is an important element in the play and exceedingly expressive. The pantomimic actions are guided by the orchestra and the singers of the chants that furnish necessary explanations. Japanese plays are mostly historical, though some depict life and manners. It is quite interesting to note that in 1903 an adapted translation of “Othello” was put on the Japanese stage with marked success. The _Nō_ “dances,” as they are sometimes called, were at first “purely religious performances, intended to propitiate the chief deities of the Shintō religion, and were acted exclusively in connection with their shrines.” But they were afterwards secularized and popularized, as lyric dramas. They are comparatively brief, and occupy only about an hour in performing. They are now given chiefly as special entertainments in high society or court circles to extraordinary guests.[62] Music, especially in connection with dancing, furnishes another common means of amusement. The chief instruments of the old style are the _koto_, a kind of lyre; the _samisen_, already described; the _kokyū_, a sort of fiddle; lutes, flutes, fifes, drums, etc.; while the violin, organ, and piano are coming into general use. These instruments, moreover, are now being manufactured by the Japanese. Individuals, bands, and orchestras, trained under foreign supervision, furnish music, both instrumental and vocal, for private and public entertainments; and concerts in European style are becoming very popular.