Kabuki

I went to see some Kabuki theatre, yesterday, and was very enjoyable. Kabuki is a traditional form of theatre. It is very stylized, but it is also a theatre “for the masses”.

I went to the Kabuki-za theatre in mid-afternoon. I thought I would just buy a ticket for another day, but a performance was starting in 40 minutes, and the doors opened in ten, so I bought a ticket to go immediately. I got a seat on the third floor (second balcony), towards the front. It was the second-cheapest seat, but it still cost Y4,200 (about $42USD).

The performance started at 4:15 and ended at 8:55. There was three parts, and two intermissions. The second intermission, at 7:00, was for 30 minutes, and I pre-ordered a sushi bento-box for dinner. The food was waiting at intermission time.

The first two segments made up one story, which involved a noble masquerading as a peasant, a “good-for-nothing”, a sushi shop, a few beheadings (and gags involving the head in a sushi barrel), and some fights and stabbing. It was rather Shakespearean in plot.

The last segment was the fourth part of the play that started in the matinee. Fortunately, it also stood alone as a story by itself. One of the actors in this segment was described in the program as “a living national treasure”, so I reckon I was seeing Kabuki performed by the very best!

The theatre rents a small radio box with an earphone, so you can listen to English commentary and translation, which allows you to understand what is going on. It does keep the commentary fairly sparse, so you can listen to the actors and follow their intonation.

More Cherry Blossoms

There are a few more early bloomers.

Check out this one very lonely tree in Ueno Park (to the left, along the shoreline):

There are many, many more cherry trees around it (all of the greyish trees to its right), but they are holding off. A few are developing buds.

You can also view some blossoms up high, in the Mori Tower in Roppongi.

It is clear that everyone is getting ready for sakura-frenzy.

No Phone

It seems that no company in Japan uses SIM cards, so I can’t get my phone running here.