[Samurai]

verso, printed label, attached up side down: "Mansai," or Wandering Actors./ No superstition or custom is more inexplicable than the one which countenances and/ encourages this peculiar class of travelling mountebanks. The Mansai reside during the greater portion/ of the year in villages in the countries of Inigawa, Owara, and Echizen, and maintain themselves by/ sensible, matter of fact farming. At the appearance of the New Year, however, they leave their villages/ in numbers and spread themselves over the whole of Japan, they go from house to house singing and/ dancing, and levying contributions of money, rice, and food, in fact anything, and in return they wish/ the inmates a Happy New Year, and success to their undertaikings for the coming twelve months. Whe-/ ther it is that the people generally have a superstitious belief in the virtue of the good wishes of the/ Manzai, or a dread of such being withheld, or whether at this particular season, people are more inclined/ to be liberal, it is still an undoubted fact, that about the end of the first month, these humourous tourists/ return to their respective villages with a goodly store of comforts and necessaries, and then rest until the/ ensuing season.