Kabuki!

Hello again everyone and welcome to another exciting installment of my journey in Japan. This week I was able to attend an event that may have been the last ever in the city of Nagoya and I will share that experience with you. Let's get started.

March 13, 2013
Today marked the long-awaited kabuki performance that I had signed up for back in January when I first arrived here. It cost about $40, so it was easily the most expensive field trip that had been offered up to that point. It was initially announced to everyone during orientation week. While listening to the presentation I thought that this play would be a great opportunity to experience something that was uniquely Japanese, something that could not be found anywhere else in the world. On top of that, we were also told that this would very well be the last kabuki play in Nagoya because they would be closing the theater later in the year. It was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity so I made up my mind right then that I would attend. All participants were also required to attend a lecture about the history of kabuki the week before the actual performance. With that in mind, I would like to give you a little history of kabuki and some other facts that I learned from the lecture.

The person who spoke with us was Mr. Hisao Watanabe, one of the foremost experts on kabuki in the entire country. He explained to us that kabuki is believed to have been first established in the 17th century and started out with both male and female performers. However, due to the problem of eroticism, female performers were banned from participating. After that, handsome young boys and men were the performers, but, this also resulted in further restrictions. There was homosexual activities that were going on between the male performers and the young boys, so the young boys were also banned from being recruited. This created a bit of a crisis as now there needed to be a solution for who would act out the roles of women. It was decided that men would play both male and female parts. The men that impersonated women were, and still are, called onnagata. From that point kabuki flourished and is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage activity. It is truly representative of traditional Japan as there a certain type of play they have know as jidai geki or Period Play. These plays are based on historical events or people, although they are not necessarily historically accurate. Another interesting aspect of kabuki is that performers are almost completely selected from kabuki families. In other words, it is nearly impossible for someone who was not born into a kabuki family to become a kabuki actor. There are also ranks that can be attained by number of performances or length of time as an actor. It was very interesting to learn so much about kabuki but actually seeing it in person was an even greater treat.

The week after the lecture, we got on the subway and headed to Fushimi, where the kabuki theater was located. When I walked into the theater I was immediately amazed by the ornateness of everything. It was very reminiscent of a high class theater in the US which, of course, I have never been in. There were people that were wearing beautiful kimono, so I also felt under-dressed even though I was dressed fairly well. We walked to our seats, which were on the upper balcony and it was the perfect vantage point for a play. After about 10 minutes or so the performance began with an introduction. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find the paper that had the name of the introduction on it but from what I do remember, there was a woman (female impersonator) and two men doing a kind of interpretive dance. I didn't really understand what was going on but it was quite mesmerizing to watch. The music was also amazing in that it was live on stage, being created using traditional Japanese instruments such as the koto. After this segment, there was a short break before the first actual performance took place. Thanks goes to Hisao Watanabe for his translation of the synopsis of this play that I have related to you.

The first play was translated "Reunion" in English and was in three acts. It told the story of a young married couple that were deeply in love with each other. The wife, Run, was scolding her younger brother for getting in a fight with another person and getting injured, which also caused trouble for the husband, Iori. Iori decides to go in place of the younger brother to right the wrong he committed, but is left with bitter feelings because of having to leave his wife and newborn child. Three months after Iori left, he bought a brand new sword and had a celebration of the acquisition of it. However, he didn't invite one samurai named Jinemon, who contributed some money for the purchase of the sword. Jinemon was not at all pleased by this, so he came to the party drunk and stirred up a lot of trouble. A scuffle broke out and Iori tried to stop it, but he ended up accidentally cutting Jinemon and getting exiled. 37 years later Iori was released from his exile and went back to the house that he used to live with his wife. He reunited with Run again at the house and they had a beautiful reunion. This was very touching to me and I very much enjoyed it. I am sucker for romantic dramas, so this was right up my alley. I was also pretty happy with the fact that I was able to understand most of the story myself by just listening to the Japanese. This was quite exciting for me. This play was followed by a half hour break.

The next part of the performance was something very unique. All of the performers came out and were in a very low bow and then each actor spoke, one by one. I found out that this was a special ceremony for three of the performers that were moving up in rank. The most prominent was an actor who move up and inherited his grandfather's stage name, Ichikawa Ennosuke. This actor is a very big deal in Japan, so were all very fortunate to be able to see him perform. Now at this point I would like to point out something very interesting that went on in the audience during the plays and the announcement. Randomly, people would start shouting during certain climactic parts of the play. Rather than being annoyed, I was amused and very curious as to why this happening. All I was able to glean was that they may have been shouting the names of the actors that were in that particular scene. It was just interesting because I know that kind of behavior would be severely frowned upon in an American play.

 The second play was an example of the aforementioned jidai geki. It was based on the historical samurai Minamoto Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune is hiding out from his brother Yoritomo, who is attempting to kill him. He had a mistress, Shizuka, whom he suspected was being swooned by one of his retainers named Sato Tadanobu. Sato of course denies this even though it was reported that Shizuka was coming with him at that very moment. Shizuka appeared with a drum wrapped in silk and no Sato Tadanobu in sight. It was ordered that the impostor be found. It turned out the Sato Tadanobu's true form was that of a fox spirit. He transformed into the fox and startled the mistress, who then tried to kill him. He explained that the drum has a special meaning to him as it was said to be made from the skins of his parents. Yoshitsune was hidden behind a bamboo wall and, having heard the tale of the fox, was very touched. He came out from his hiding place and, after thanking the fox for protecting Shizuka, gave the fox the drum. The fox was absolutely elated and in his gratitude he informed Yoshitsune that there was a group of monk-soldiers that were coming for him. The fox took control of the bodies of the soldiers and made them look like fools, saving Yoshitsune. Then the fox took the drum and was lifted into the air via a wire and "flew" over the audience. When he reached a tunnel it erupted with a flurry of cherry blossom petals. This was a fantastic ending to a wonderful play. The most incredible thing, for me, in this play was the acrobatics that were involved. The fox did two back bends that basically gave him the appearance of being folded in half. He also did this kind of crouch where all of his weight was concentrated and he basically walked on his toes in a crouch. What was more incredible about this was he also did this on a very narrow railing. There was also extremely quick costume changes that were literally only 30 seconds or so. Also, the monk-soldiers did this routine where one of them would roll and the other would jump over and the jump and then roll over. They did this with three people and the speed got faster and faster. The precision was incredible because if there was one wrong move, the results would have been disastrous. It was just incredible athleticism. Once again, thanks goes to Hisao Watanabe for his translation of the synopsis of this play that I have related to you.

Afterward, we were supposed to get a dressing room tour but, unfortunately that fell through, so we just received another mini lecture from Mr. Watanabe and took some group photos. We then made our way back our respective residences. Initially, I wasn't sure what to expect with kabuki because many people had told me that it was boring and that I would fall asleep because I wouldn't be able to understand anything of what was going on. I'm happy that they were wrong, but I will concede that the second play started a little slow and, because of that, I almost fell asleep. This was one of my best experiences since I've been here and I'm glad I took the opportunity to see something that I will probably never see again.

Well, this marks the end of another exciting blog post and I hope you've enjoyed it. I want to make you all aware that I will be going to Tokyo next week so I will be pumping out a lot of posts, so be ready. I look forward to sharing my trip to Tokyo with you. Until next time!