Once, when he played in Osaka, he ordered drinking water from Kyoto to be brought to him in casks, and his rice was selected grain by grain. When he was asked the reason for this extravagance, he replied that if his rice were not properly selected the grains might be mixed with grit and his teeth be ruined; and that if he drank Osaka water he might become ill, and in consequence be obliged to absent himself from the stage, to the great loss of his manager. It is suspected that Tojuro loved advertisement more than Kyoto water, and knew how to make himself talked about by the people of his day. He was at his best when portraying tradespeople, and was more at ease in plebeian than in aristocratic rôles. His successful plays were those dealing with everyday life rather than historical pieces, which were the delight of Ichikawa Danjuro. Tojuro’s specialty was acting in plays dealing with the gay quarters, which pleased the people of the Genroku age immensely. How he regarded the art of the actor may be judged from an extract taken from Kaneko Kichizaburo’s Sidelights on Tojuro: “When a poor man desires money he may be able to obtain it by stealing, or he may find it in the road, but with regard to acting nothing can be stolen. An actor who is ignorant of the fundamental principles is one who is destined never to excel.” Kaneko tells another story to illustrate Tojuro’s attitude towards the art of acting. A certain actor who had a son 12 years of age wanted him to learn the art, but did not think it necessary for him to bother how to write or to know anything about figures. Tojuro hearing of this said: “The art of an actor is like a beggar’s bag and must contain everything, whether it is important or not. If there is anything not wanted for immediate use keep it for a future occasion. An actor should even learn how to pick pockets.” At one time, returning with Kaneko from the theatre, he stopped suddenly on the bridge they were crossing and stood motionless, looking down into the water, deep in meditation over some problem of acting. The playwright asked him if he had dropped something, but he did not answer. After a pause he said: “Well I have learned a great lesson!” On another occasion he stopped at a tofu-ya, or white-bean-curd shop, went straight in and watched how it was manufactured, and after thoroughly acquainting himself with the process, thanked the proprietor of the place and went away. Such information might be worth while to know, since he could use it on the stage some day, and therefore he put it into his beggar’s bag.