kaishi: a wad of square sheets of Japanese mulberry-fiber paper all together folded in half,
and always placed in the bosom of her/his kimono by anyone of a normal degree of refinement
of turn-out. Sheets from this wad are used as disposable plates for Tea-cakes, as wrappings
for tips offered to the staff of Japanese restaurants, as handkerchiefs for wiping away sweat
or blowing one's nose, and even, at moments of extreme need, as weapons with which momentarily
to bewilder the visual
perception of an assailant (cf. the seventh act of The Forty-seven Loyal Retainers [Chushingura]).