More from Day 2 in Tokyo

Tonight we saw a Kyogen play titled "The Inherited Cramp." This is a 600 year old play that was performed by an American name Don Kelly in english. This is very special because all of the traditional plays are done in Japanese and very difficult to translate. Plus, you have to be trained for many years and have permission from your teacher to perform it for money. As long as he does not perform it in Japanese he is allowed to charge money. He has done this all over the world and it is really special to get the opportunity to take part in it.

A Kyogen play deals with human situations that are very down to earth and universal. It is typically comedic and nobody ever dies. Kyogen can have a demon, human, and animal, but it does not have to have these. There are only about 12 masks that go along with this type of play so it is mostly done without them. Interestingly, the one mask of the women has very high eyebrows. Women used to shave there eyebrows and paint them VERY high up on their forhead because this was considered beautiful at the time. It is interesting to see how the idea of "beauty" can be so different according to place and time. The movements are very specific and the way they talk is very slow and deliberate. He even told us that he has performed this while having laryngitus because of the way he talks during the performance. Most Kyogen actors study it for 30 years and then start to become famous around there 50s. They usually stick with it and sometimes even perform into there 90s. Some have died after right after there performance, but never on stage. They are very committed. If this was not translated into english we would not appreciated it and learned about this part of their culture.

The other types of plays consist of Noh, Unaka, and Kabuki.

The Noh plays consist of about 20 people, unlike the Kyogen that has only a few in each performance. There is usually a chorus, characters, and a main character that wears a mask. He is a ghost that that is stuck on earth because it is has unfinished business that has not been resolved. The ghost must find a way to detach himself so he can go to paradise (Buddhist influence). This is closely related to Kyogen and is also 600 years old.

Unaka is about 400 years old and deals with intricate puppets. It takes about 30 years to train to be the puppet master. Kabuki is exactly like Unaka except that the puppets are living people.

Enjoy the pictures and I will try to bring videos home of the performance.



The other pictures are miscellaneous from walking around town and going to the evening dinner. The sushi, soup, dessert, green tea, beef, shrimp were all delicious (some of the sushi was a little chewy, but it was fine). The arcades were pretty amazing, pachinko and slots were very busy and loud, and a lot of people like to smoke in public places (yuck). It is VERY fun to walk around and people watch.