So, as I was feeling like crap I took the day off school and mostly slept. Did some laundry (how fun) and watched a few episodes of Nobuta Wo Produce but mostly slept. Was due to meet Katharina and her sister at 16:50 but managed to fall asleep around 15:00 and woke up at 16:05. Not good considering it takes 50 minutes to get from my room to school if I run and get good connections on the train. I only got one connection (and barely at that...the door hit me as I jumped through...but I got on), the worst miss was arriving at the station to see my train pull up. Even if I ran flat out at that point, I wouldn't get there so I had to just watch it glide away. Somehow I managed to get to my meeting point by 17:00 which wasn't so late so all was well.
Now we get to the reason for the meeting...KABUKI! I don't know why I haven't done this before because it's fabulous! The three of us headed off to Ginza to find the Kabuki theatre via the Tokyo Metro. Of course, as I was late I didn't check the best way to go so I think I took us the expensive and long way but we made it all the same. Finding the theatre was pretty easy, even if they had closed the metro exit that we needed and that I remembered.
When we got there we had to join the queue for 1 act. The thing with kabuki is that it goes on for about 4 hours or so and can be rather expensive. In order to make it more accessible, they allow people to purchase tickets for just one of the usual four acts. We were there in time for act 3 of today's performance and were lucky enough to see the following...
YUDACHI
A dance to Kiyomoto music with decadent mood of the end of the Edo era. The music was originally composed for a drama "Shiranami Gonin Onna," but it is now more often used as a music to a dance version of a scene from a drama "Kozaru Shichinosuke." Takigawa, a maid of the Edo palace, faints away by a hard roll of thunder. Shichinosuke holds her out from a palanquin. After a fighting scene, they make love in a hut.
KANDA BAYASHIWe didn't realise that we had bought tickets to see two acts so it was a nice surprise not to be thrown out of the place after the first one. We were there for maybe an hour and a half altogether for just 900yen (100yen discount for being a student) which is about £6 I guess. It was strange and really not as scary as you'd think. The music was odd and I didn't understand a lot of what they were talking about but even so, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so, I'm planning on seeing another show in June before I come home. Maybe I'll even see a whole show from start to finish (if it's not too expensive). Alas, it won't be at the same theatre as they are due to pull it down once this months schedule finishes on Tuesday. I'm very happy to have had the opportunity not only to see Kabuki but to have seen it in the famous Ginza Kabuki-za.
A heart-warming drama by a famous playwright Uno Nobuo (1904-1991) which shows the life of the commoners in Edo in the end of the Edo era. One day at the end of a year, a cooper Tomekichi is suspected of stealing money which the society of nenbutsu prayers has gathered for a year. Though he did not steal, he rented and paid the sum and worked very hard after that.
In September of the next year, the lost money is found and they are reconciled. Tomekichi is not angry as he also doubted them at that time, and thanks them as he could become richer by working harder.
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