9/10/2001

Midnight YNYC

First thing this morning we went back to International House for a presentation on Kabuki. Matazo Nakamura is a 68 year old professional Kabuki actor. I took tons of notes and pictures during the presentation so I don't forget anything. We sat right in front so we didn't miss anything. He was such a cute little man with his "boss" wife in kimono. We all had a good time learning and playing with him. For lunch, G and I went back to Mitsukoshi (the huge Ginza department store). We walked around Ginza for a while, but it felt just like the first time- things were too expensive to even look at. But we looked around anyway until it was time for the show. G bought a sushi box, spring roll, and pastry for dinner.

Kabuki was really fun. We sat kinda far away so we couldn't see facial expressions. The costumes were very ornate sometimes. The music was traditional Japanese. Sometimes they (the musicians) were seated in front on stage, but usually they were hidden. We had radio sets to hear explanations (not translations) in English. We saw the stagehands dressed all in black- with cloth covering their faces as well. Unusual for an American performance- their hands were not covered. There was also a separate type of helper that was dressed in brown formal robes and stayed on stage for most of the performance. These sometimes faced the audience but the almost always moved with their back to us. The scenery was interesting- mostly 2 dimensional painted flats for background and foreground. There was a huge turntable in the middle of the stage so I suspect the next scene was prepared as we looked at the current one. Scene changes were pretty quick but always totally covered by a curtain pulled across the stage by the stagehand.

I was a little disappointed by the lighting involved. Most was completely static and even, though some effects were used (lightening bugs and strobes). They mostly had tons of huge Japanese flood lights. Some had color changers on them. I was surprised that the lighting was so traditional, though now I think it makes sense. I wonder if the roofs of the houses were open so that down-light could be used as area light. Despite the sometimes lagging pace of action, I was really fascinated by the performance and only got a little uncomfortable at the end.

Quick note: other American students appeared not as interested in the performance as their postcards home and journal entries. Enough of that. G and I left and found a passport picture booth in the Shinjuku station (the closest we've been to Shinjuku yet). We got a little lost but four subway transfers later we arrived in time to see the bath close.

11:00am YNYC Classroom
While we're sitting here together, taking shelter from the storm and waiting for people to come back from hospitals and passport offices, I thought I'd jot some notes about density. Housing: stacked housing, windows, plants, thin buildings. Subway: quiet, look down, Mycheio Tarama says it's only a few minutes so they know they can handle it. Restaurants: sit close, eat fast, no dawdling.