While the young people enjoy these pastimes out of doors, within the house the older members of the family indulge in the writing of a New Year’s poem or in playing one of the games described in the next section of this leaflet. The writing of poems at this auspicious time is almost universal, indeed, the composing of poetry and the mastery of caligraphy are considered as necessary accomplishments for the cultured person. The most common form of New Year’s poem is that known as _tanka_. It is a poem of five lines, the first and third of which contain five syllables, the other three seven, and is the poem almost always found on _surimono_. Poems are often inscribed on fans as in Fig. 5, where one young woman meditates over the verse which she has written on a fan. A companion seated at a writing table, is grinding ink with one hand and holding with the other a poem paper (_tanzaku_). Such long strips are to be seen in many houses awaiting the New Year’s inspiration. They are sometimes tinted to a soft shade or ornamented with appropriate New Year’s flowers or with silver clouds as in this case. One of the poems accompanying this _surimono_ is worthy of translation: “From the window, lighting the brush for the first writing, the plums’ fragrance on the wind is blowing.” On the first day of the year, musicians and dancers proceed from house to house. The musician, wearing a flat straw hat which partially covers her face, charms away birds of ill omen with a few strains played on the samisen. The dancers are either those known as _manzai_ or are those who enact the lion dance, a performance adopted from China. (Costumes used in the lion dance of China may be seen in Case 5, Hall I, ground floor.) With the majority of families much of the day is spent in paying visits to friends, at which times it is customary to present small gifts, usually of trifling value such as conserves, fruit, fish, persimmons, herring roe, bean-curd, towels and similar articles. Presents are either placed on trays in ceremonial form or carefully wrapped in paper or silk and tied with red and white cords.