“May it please the spirit of the god in your house to keep this paper”, to which the actor would make answer: “I will take it home and keep it until to-morrow, and congratulate myself on having this play.” Then all present again clapped their hands, and the meeting came to an end. The matter of the refreshments served at such times differed in each theatre. At the Morita-za, manju, a bean-paste cake, was given to the people within the screen, while at the Ichimura-za a dinner with sake was served generously. This old custom gradually lost its significance, and in later years it was not observed in the same dignified manner. Sometimes the new play meeting was held at the house of a sakusha, and later the manager of the theatre invited those concerned to his house. The play had to be endorsed by the manager first, and the position of the sakusha gradually changed for the worse. When the play-deciding meeting was over, the sakusha wrote out the actors’ rôles, and when everything was settled a draft of the piece was sent to the police authorities, a practice that exists even at present. The police censors examined the new play before permission to stage it was granted. Another event of importance to the sakusha in Yedo’s theatrical world was the first rehearsal held every year on October 17th, when the general plan of new plays was announced and the actors assembled for rehearsal. This was called yorizome, or first gathering, and was held on this particular date because it happened to be the annual festival of the Goddess-of-Mercy temple in Asakusa. This particular day was selected by Nakamura Kansaburo, since he had such a strong faith in Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy. The temple sacred to this Buddhist divinity was the centre of worshippers from all parts of Yedo, as it still remains to-day in teeming Tokyo. It was a gathering attended by the playwrights, the actors, with the exception of the lowest ranks, and officials of the theatre. The head of the musicians, or hayashikata, was also present. This was a festive occasion in the theatre quarter, and the streets were bright with lanterns. After a general exchange of dinner parties, these people of the theatre gathered together in front of the shibai right under the yagura, or drum-tower, and entered by the small door called the nezumi-kido, or rat door, so called because it was so low that people had to bend their bodies almost double to go through. When they came to the stage they clapped their hands in unison, and passed on. Upon arrival at the place of meeting, which was generally held in a room on the third floor behind the stage, the company again clapped their hands. The meeting was conducted with such a rigid regard for details, that even the sitting position assigned to the respective persons was minutely arranged beforehand.