Second taste of Kabuki

My second time watching Kabuki was a much better experience. I went last Sunday with my aunt to the Shimbashi Enbujo theatre in Ginza.

This time, I wore headphones that provided an English translation and explained certain elements of the story or of Japan's history, relevant to the play. I did understand a lot more thanks to the headphones but I also found it quite distracting. At the same time as I'm trying to listen to the actors, I have a translation in English playing in my ear. And you can't focus on both. I tried. So I would go 50/50, first listen to the English translation, and as soon as there was a pause, try to decipher the Japanese the actors were talking. Overall, I understood 100% more than my first time (where I didn't understand a thing). I did fall asleep a few times... it's just so hot in there, and having to focus so hard to understand is quite exhausting.

We actually saw two different plays along with a kojo ceremony in between.

To give you an idea of what Kabuki plays are about, here are the summaries of the two plays I saw with my aunt on Sunday, recopied from the translated English pamphlet I received. (Therefore, I do not own these summaries.)

1. Ogurusu no Chobei (Chobei of Ogurusu Village): A modern comedy by Okamoto Kido (1872-1939) about a famous historical event. The village of Ogurusu is famous as the place where Akechi Mitsuhide met his death. Mitsuhide assassinated his master, the warlord Nobunaga, but after only ten days of ruling Japan, was killed himself, passing control to Hideyoshi. The farmer Chobei is the bad boy of the village and the object of everyone's laughter and contempt, until a samurai comes and hails Chobei as a hero for killing Mitsuhide.

2. Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees): This is Ennosuke's signature piece, full of fast changes, acrobatics and his trademark flight through the air. A magical fox takes the guise of a warrior named Tadanobu in order to get close to a precious drum made from the skins of his fox parents. But his mysterious activities throw suspicion on the real Tadanobu and finally the fox reveals his true identity. In the end, he flies away joyously when he receives the drum.

Both were very interesting and well played. I especially liked the last one because the actor who played the fox would leap into the air, or fall down from the ceiling, and at the end flew up away on a cable.

In between the two plays, there was a special kojo ceremony. According to the pamphlet : "Kojo is the essential part of the ceremony that makes up a kabuki actor's name taking performance."

During the ceremony, names are passed down. For example, "Ennosuke III is passing on his name to his nephew Kamejiro, who will become Ennosuke IV while Ennosuke himself will become En'o II."

I don't understand how it all works but what I learned is that Kabuki is generally passed down from one generation to the next, creating actor lines. Therefore, a Kabuki troup is mostly made up of blood relatives, with a few adopted actors as well. Kabuki actors usually make their debut on stage as children or in their early twenties at the latest.

Announcing the kojo ceremony

We weren't technically allowed to take pictures during the play but I took this one secretly.
You can see an actor to the right (in red) as well as the beautiful stage decor.

Little paper hearts that fell down from the ceiling at the end of the presentation.

My aunt Shizuko (left) with two friends

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.