Kabuki and NHK studio park

Yesterday, all the students of the Bekka Japanese language program had a field trip day. Last semester we went to Hakone but this time, we went to see Kabuki and visit the NHK studio park.

Class picture in front of the Kabuki theatre

Kabuki is a classical Japanese drama. The actors are all men, the female roles played by men as well, thanks to great facial makeup and costumes. I imagined Kabuki to be simply acting, but the actors dance and sing as well. And there are multiple things happening on the stage at once. On one side of the stage, you have a shamisen player (a three-stringed guitar-like instrument) and a singer. On the stage, you have the actors playing out their parts. But throughout it all, the singing, the shamisen melodies, and the words spoken by the actors flawlessly intermingle, showing the endless hours they must have practiced to be able to achieve that.

With classmates Wan (left) and An (right)

Inside the theatre


The whole presentation was in Japanese, but not the normal spoken Japanese, a more archaic and complicated Japanese that even normal Japanese have trouble understanding. To help the audience understand, you can rent headphones that provide explanations in Japanese or English. However, our session was only 1h15 and you had to pay about 9 dollars to rent a pair so I decided not to this time. And I didn't understand a thing. I couldn't even make out the words they were saying. So I kind of lost interest at times because I couldn't understand what was going on. I even fell asleep a few times... I wasn't the only one. For my first time seeing Kabuki, it was interesting and I now have a good idea what it is. And, on Sunday, I'm going to see Kabuki again, this time with my aunt. We should be renting headphones so it'll probably be more interesting and more worthwhile.

Then, after eating a Japanese lunch box (salmon, chicken, rice, soup, some vegetables), we went to visit the NHK studio park in Shibuya. (NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization)

Our lunch box: doesn't look like much but you're full after

The NHK studio park fell a bit short of my expectations I was expecting this cool studio that shows how they record their shows, the equipment, etc... and I also expected it to be in English for some reason. But everything was in Japanese. For  a lot of Japanese, kids and adults alike, who have grown up watching NHK programs and television shows, it's a great place. There are recaps of kid shows, some games, profiles of famous actors that have appeared on NHK, and many other things. But for us international students, it doesn't have as much meaning. And because everything is in Japanese, well, it's a bit hard to understand.

After that was done, we could either go back to the university by bus or go back on our own. I decided to do some shopping because I don't often get the chance to go to Shinjuku and Harajuku, the main shopping districts. I found some cute and airy summer clothes (desperately needed because it'ss getting so hot now) and then took the train to Shinjuku. Now let me say, Shinjuku and me don't get along. I always get lost, no matter how clear it seems to be in my head. As I wrote before, when my brother came, I was supposed to show him around Shinjuku but he ended up being the tour guide. But I've become used to it. Instead of stressing out, I now just relax and keep walking until I see a familiar landmark: "Hmmm... I think that looks familiar, let's go there". lol My grandmother just sighs when I tell her my adventures. In Japanese, the word maigo is used to describe a lost or stray child. I told my grandmother that I don't just become a maigo occasionally, but that I am a maigo. ; ) I don't know if there's hope for me... but I don't think it can really get worse so I've resorted to living as a directionally challenged person. This word exists by the way. I just found an article with the title "The directionally challenged lack an internal compass". Yup, that's me.

After about 30 minutes of walking purposefully, I finally found the stores I was looking for. Then made it back home safely. At least the train system is now pretty clear to me.