Drat, I went another week without posting, and not for lack of goings on either.
I suppose the most note-worthy item of the week is that I seem to be experiencing the 2 month low. It's nothing too bad, just a little homesick. I hear just about everyone gets it 2 months in. Luckily I like Japan so much that, even though a piece of me wants home, a bigger part of me is having too good of a time here.
In other news, I have figured out how to use my PSP (Playstation Portable game system) to watch anime on the train to and from school. It works out perfectly, I'm on the train for about 25 minutes total, which is the length of the average animated Japanese TV show.
Tuesday (as mentioned at the end of Sunday's post) I went with a group from school to see Kabuki. It turns out that when Sparks and I explored Ginza on his trip to Tokyo, we missed the giant kabuki theater by half a block. It's quite impressive. I unfortunately neglected to take any pictures.
Before we got to the theater, however, we stopped in a department store basement to get Obentos. Obento (or bento) is the Japanese word for packed lunch. Every department store has shops that sell food "to go" as well as restaurants in the basement. I bough some "beef and peppers" from one shop and some seafood-rice from another. Once everyone had gotten something we headed for the theater.
Inside the theater we were seated in the... how to put this tactfully... "cheap seats". Set up much as a normal theater, the kabuki theater had three tiers. Unlike a normal theater, the main floor is divided into three sections by two stage extensions that run from the main stage to the back of the audience.
There were head-phones available in both English and Japanese that tell what is going on during the show. Evidently, even the Japanese have a hard time following what's going on. I, by some misfortune, did not stop and get a headset, so I was left to figure out what was happening on my own. I did, after a while, remember that I had a handout I was given that summarized each of the four shows performed.
Kabuki today, as it was when it began, is still an all day event. You can purchase a ticket and watch Kabuki from 10am until almost 10pm. We had evening tickets, which means we were able to watch the plays after 4:30pm. The first play was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. The story involved an old blind warrior and his loving daughter who he abandoned. Of course it's much deeper than that, but that's the uber-short version.
After the first play ended we ate out Obento. Right in our seats. I expected us to head to some sort of cafeteria space, or at least the lobby to eat. Instead, just like everyone else in the theater did, we broke out our food and ate where we sat. I think American theater could benefit from this practice. It kind of felt like sneaking candy into a movie theater, but not getting in trouble for it.
The second play was a short one about a child warrior training on a mountain side. Amazingly the child warrior was played by a real child. The kid did a really good job for being as young as he was (6 or 7 at most).
The the third play was a Kabuki play based on and old Noh play, in turn based on an old Chinese legend. After the third play most everyone in the group decided it was late and that we wouldn't stay for the forth act. I like kabuki, but four hour of fruitlessly trying to figure out what's going on is very tiring.
I suppose the most note-worthy item of the week is that I seem to be experiencing the 2 month low. It's nothing too bad, just a little homesick. I hear just about everyone gets it 2 months in. Luckily I like Japan so much that, even though a piece of me wants home, a bigger part of me is having too good of a time here.
In other news, I have figured out how to use my PSP (Playstation Portable game system) to watch anime on the train to and from school. It works out perfectly, I'm on the train for about 25 minutes total, which is the length of the average animated Japanese TV show.
Tuesday (as mentioned at the end of Sunday's post) I went with a group from school to see Kabuki. It turns out that when Sparks and I explored Ginza on his trip to Tokyo, we missed the giant kabuki theater by half a block. It's quite impressive. I unfortunately neglected to take any pictures.
Before we got to the theater, however, we stopped in a department store basement to get Obentos. Obento (or bento) is the Japanese word for packed lunch. Every department store has shops that sell food "to go" as well as restaurants in the basement. I bough some "beef and peppers" from one shop and some seafood-rice from another. Once everyone had gotten something we headed for the theater.
Inside the theater we were seated in the... how to put this tactfully... "cheap seats". Set up much as a normal theater, the kabuki theater had three tiers. Unlike a normal theater, the main floor is divided into three sections by two stage extensions that run from the main stage to the back of the audience.
There were head-phones available in both English and Japanese that tell what is going on during the show. Evidently, even the Japanese have a hard time following what's going on. I, by some misfortune, did not stop and get a headset, so I was left to figure out what was happening on my own. I did, after a while, remember that I had a handout I was given that summarized each of the four shows performed.
Kabuki today, as it was when it began, is still an all day event. You can purchase a ticket and watch Kabuki from 10am until almost 10pm. We had evening tickets, which means we were able to watch the plays after 4:30pm. The first play was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. The story involved an old blind warrior and his loving daughter who he abandoned. Of course it's much deeper than that, but that's the uber-short version.
After the first play ended we ate out Obento. Right in our seats. I expected us to head to some sort of cafeteria space, or at least the lobby to eat. Instead, just like everyone else in the theater did, we broke out our food and ate where we sat. I think American theater could benefit from this practice. It kind of felt like sneaking candy into a movie theater, but not getting in trouble for it.
The second play was a short one about a child warrior training on a mountain side. Amazingly the child warrior was played by a real child. The kid did a really good job for being as young as he was (6 or 7 at most).
The the third play was a Kabuki play based on and old Noh play, in turn based on an old Chinese legend. After the third play most everyone in the group decided it was late and that we wouldn't stay for the forth act. I like kabuki, but four hour of fruitlessly trying to figure out what's going on is very tiring.
Yesterday I was finally able to register for spring semester classes (stupid time-ticket system). Tomorrow's plan is to check out Yokohama, which should be fun. The weather this week has been awesome, but as per usual it looks like it'll rain this weekend.
Ja Mata Ne.
On a side note, I seem to be running out of places to go from my guide book. If anyone can think of anyplace you think I should visit before I leave, please post a comment letting me know. Keep in mind that time and money are limiting factors (i.e. Hokkaido is out of the question)
posted by Dockett at 10:00 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, when I visited Japan I stayed at the Sofitel at Ueno Park (Big stop on the Yamanote line). It is the white christmas tree looking building.
If you ever get a chance, you can retrace my steps through the park to the Hotel.
At Ueno station (The 2nd section away from the hotel) there is a bakery. There is where I consumed about 80% of my total diet while visiting Japan. I dont do seafood to well ;).
If you get a chance, id love some Ueno park pictures. I plan on bringing the girlfriend to JApan in the Spring (Week after Golden Week)
-PropWash
Post a Comment
<< Home