Friday night I found myself unprepared for the weekend. What should I do? The weather was not that great as it seems it would rain most of the weekend... So, I remembered that I wanted to see some Japanese theater while I'm here. I stumble upon the National Bunraku Theater website, and find that I can get a ticket for Saturday's 4:00 performance for only 2300 yen! It's the very last row, but I'd rather not pay a whopping 4300 (4100 with a student ID, how generous).
In retrospect the 11:00 show might have been more entertaining as the first act had something to do with monkeys. But that was a bit too early for my want of a lazy morning. I met up with Joe on my way to Hirakata and we went and ate in the Yoshinoya at the station, a great place to get delicious, cheap rice-bowl meals. Afterwards we did some shopping and I got a good sweater-jacket, Japanese style. Quite pleased with it. All that's left on my list now is just another pair of pants, a shirt or two, some wooden dishware, and a load of manga to bring back. Getting it all home will be an adventure for another day.
For those of you unfamiliar with Bunraku, it's puppet theater accompanied by chanters and a koto player. It takes 3 people per puppet, one for the body, one for the left arm, one for the right arm and head. It takes 10 years to move from the body to the left arm, 10 from there to the head. The two lesser puppeteers are shrouded in black clothing as to not draw attention to them, and the guy who does the head gets his face exposed for his efforts. Puppets move very lifelike, except when walking backwards they moonwalk... I don't understand that part.
There were some other foreigners at the theatre. I sat behind some who spoke Spainish, I believe. The first act was 二つ蝶々くるわにっき (The Two Butterflies), which contained なんばうら喧嘩 (The Fighting at Nambaura) which was about one Samurai throwing around two smaller ones until they died, and then he may have killed two more then ran away. Under the same storyline was やわたのさと引き窓 (The Skylight), which made very little sense. The samurai from the previous story hides in his sister's house, and his brother-in-law becomes the new deputy magistrate and has to hunt him down. He leaves to search for the samurai while the samurai hides in the house, and his mother and sister cut his hair for him, then his brother-in-law dept. magistrate comes back, throws a dart at his face, and his defining mole is torn asunder? What? Then the magistrate runs away again, comes back, throws money instead of a dart this time, and has him run away? Bunraku stories don't make much sense.
The last three were acts of 八人しゅごのほんじょ (which they gave a different English title, Masakiyo's Loyalty?). なにわ入江 (The Port of Naniwa) featured a pretty boat, where some smaller boat came up to it and asked the fancy court person Masakiyo if he is well, he apparently lies and says he is, then the boat goes away... Another one comes, some weirdo gives Masakiyo a sake barrel, then some ninjas attack and he dispatches them, then the boat swivels around (which was amazing,) and then he cries for about 5 minutes? There was a long koto solo by one of the puppets which was quite good.
かずえのすけ はやうち (Kazuenosuke's Hurried Visit), the next act, was about Masakiyo praying in his room for 100 days straight (Why? we don't know.) Some guy comes by, visits, leaves, then another one comes, tosses a sake barrel at the retainers of the castle, then leaves.
まさきよ ほんじょ (Which now means Masakiyo's Castle... What does ほんじょ even mean?) , was quite long. Basically more people some to visit the castle, and some people from another faction sneak in to Masakiyo's room disguised as rats (using magic?) and attack, and are all thrown about by Masakiyo, then killed by his one retainer. His one friend gets a divorce letter since her husband joined the other faction, so she sticks a knife in her throat and proceeds to die over the next half hour, gurgling about on stage. Then Masakiyo dons some spiffy armor, some guy reveals to everyone that he is in fact someone with a different name which may or may not be important, and they all march off to battle in an exxagerated manner. At one point Masakiyo takes his sword out and a dark cloud floats over him.
There were subtitles for people who can't understand the chanting, as it is difficult, and all the words are in old Japanese, which does have resemblances to the modern kind. I could read some of the kanji, so I kind of new what was going on, sometimes. I maybe got 20% of what was going on, which is pretty good.
I ran into Jesse and James (no, not Team Rocket :P ) , they had a Japanese friend with them, Nanae. I told her what I did and she said "Whoa, you must be really intelligent! Intellectual!" "Haha, no no, I didn't understand it very well at all..." About as many Japanese go to Bunraku as Americans do symphany orchestra or opera. 4 hours is a bit rough... But I didn't fall asleep.
The only other two I want to see now are Kabuki and Kyogen (the humorous side of Noh,) but not Noh. Noh would be too painful. Far too painful. Angela wants to see Kabuki too, so I'll put off on that one for now, I think.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Update
Hey everyone - Sorry I haven't written anything in awhile. Things are fine. I was sick for another 3 days or so, and then I was busy with classes, and haven't been in a mood to sit here and type for an hour - I'm still not, really. But I figure I should write something.
The only exciting things that have happened would be visiting Nara with Yukina. We went to one garden that was free of charge for foreigners, and walked around it a bit, but mostly spent our time walking around the main attractions of Nara without going inside of any other museums or temples due to the fees (I don't think she wanted to pay, nor was she as interested as me in these things, so...) We got to see many deer, which were outnumbered by the tourists. Nara was packed.
It was really good just spending the day talking in mostly Japanese. Later I found out she wants to use more English though, which is fair, so I'm trying to use it a little more with her. It was a really good time.
Before the Nara trip, Gaidai had it's school festival, where all the clubs set up booths selling food for activity fees and whatnot, and tons of demonstrations and concerts are all over the place. It was incredible, seeing how ehtusiastic the Japanese students were, and how good they were at what they like to do - The karate club chopped up cinderblocks and iceblocks, the acapella group was great, the student run jazz and rock bands sounded professional, the food was good... You will never, ever, ever see such motivated, passionate, and dedicated people in America. I'm really embarrased to be an officer of the Japan Club at Gettysburg, since we don't do anything on this scale, nor do any of our members have much motivation to do anything, let alone clean up after themselves when we do have parties. Oh well.
But, honestly, nothing else has been going on. This week is another busy one, and I surmise all the following ones will be too. I don't know if I'll be traveling to anywhere in the near future, probably not so much anymore. I've hit most of the places to go in Kansai, and I don't want to spend the money to go further, nor face the homework and unfamiliar kanji on Japanese tests that would result in doing that.
But we'll see.
The only exciting things that have happened would be visiting Nara with Yukina. We went to one garden that was free of charge for foreigners, and walked around it a bit, but mostly spent our time walking around the main attractions of Nara without going inside of any other museums or temples due to the fees (I don't think she wanted to pay, nor was she as interested as me in these things, so...) We got to see many deer, which were outnumbered by the tourists. Nara was packed.
It was really good just spending the day talking in mostly Japanese. Later I found out she wants to use more English though, which is fair, so I'm trying to use it a little more with her. It was a really good time.
Before the Nara trip, Gaidai had it's school festival, where all the clubs set up booths selling food for activity fees and whatnot, and tons of demonstrations and concerts are all over the place. It was incredible, seeing how ehtusiastic the Japanese students were, and how good they were at what they like to do - The karate club chopped up cinderblocks and iceblocks, the acapella group was great, the student run jazz and rock bands sounded professional, the food was good... You will never, ever, ever see such motivated, passionate, and dedicated people in America. I'm really embarrased to be an officer of the Japan Club at Gettysburg, since we don't do anything on this scale, nor do any of our members have much motivation to do anything, let alone clean up after themselves when we do have parties. Oh well.
But, honestly, nothing else has been going on. This week is another busy one, and I surmise all the following ones will be too. I don't know if I'll be traveling to anywhere in the near future, probably not so much anymore. I've hit most of the places to go in Kansai, and I don't want to spend the money to go further, nor face the homework and unfamiliar kanji on Japanese tests that would result in doing that.
But we'll see.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Long Island; Shrine Island
A shinkansen is a plane without wings, that moves a few inches over the ground. That's basically what a bullet train seems like; I've never moved that quickly over land before.
I made it from Shin-Osaka station to Hiroshima just fine. It took me a little while to figure out where the street cars were, but once again, navigating in Japan is very simple. The street cars were very convenient and cheap as well. You can get day passes for them and the JR train line, plus ferries to Miyajima.
I rushed to the museum because I did not know when our school was going to have the presentation by a 被爆者/ひばくしゃ(Atomic Bomb victim). Trying to inquire about the speaker was difficult since I didn't know the word 被爆者 to begin with, but after saying "speaker" and "Kansai Gaidai" I got the point across and found out I had ample time to explore the museum and grounds before the talk.
The beginning focuses on Japan from the Russo-Japanese war to the creation and deployment of the bomb. All of this was on the walls, and in the middle was a model of Hiroshima before and after the bomb. The next exhibit showed more destruction and the cleanup, along with some of the treatments for victims. Then the third area was on what an atomic bomb is, what current ones are like, who has them and how many, and the need to get rid of these weapons.
Then there's a break with a bookstore, where I bought the first thick volume of はだしのゲン (Barefoot Gen) and 夕凪の街、桜の国 (Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms). I wish I got the smaller editions of Barefoot Gen as they were a bit more colorful, and this is kind of bulky... But anyway, they are two important manga that deal with Hiroshima, the former in the initial event and the latter in coping thereafter. I'm looking forward to reading them.
The second half of the museum displays artifacts including disfigured household items, building materials such as warped metals, and many common things that seem as if they were dragged from the depths of the sea. Also this part dealt more with the human suffering, a few models of disfigured people, actual photos, and human remains such as singed locks of hair, finger nails, skin, and tattered clothing. Many people had their skin melt right off of their bodies, and had the skin of their arms hanging tattered from their arms; literally melted off. Incredibly gruesome and ghastly in appearance. People bled from most orifaces or from their skin, begged for water (which was contaminated) and died from awful pain. Of course many were also instantaneously vaporized. Others further out were poisoned, blinded, or burnt.
Our speaker presented to us in English, but was difficult to hear. She was very sick, and had no eyelids due to the blast. She related to us how her and her friends were in a field when it happened, and her good friend was disfigured in front of her. She was burnt as well. People jumped into the water to cool themselves or to drink, and died in the water or in wells. The cries for water were common. She went throughout life in constant physical and mental pain and could never get married, like many surrvivors. She dedicated her life to lecturing, and came to not hate the Americans but war itself, and now fights for not just nuclear proliferation but cluster bombs and land mines.
The museum was very fair and balanced in representation, so there was a very sincere portrayal of a desire for peace from the city and victims of Hiroshima. The speaker said that they should have done a better job with the grave nature of the suffering of the victims, and upon reflection that could very well be true, so I reccomend that if you do go, you should look into literature and documentaries afterwards.
I went to the victims memorial afterwards and it was a circular room with a tile mosiac of the view from the hospital after the bomb was dropped (where the hospital used to stand). Each tile represented a victim. That put things into perspective well enough. There was a fountain inside the room, and one outside the memorial, and the reason was explained in the next room through the stories of three victims. So many people begged and moaned for water, so fountains were built to commemorate them. In one story a man related that he was in the army at the time and his commander would not let him give water to anyone as they thought it would kill them quickly. True, they needed water due to the heat dehydrating them, but the water was also contaiminated. It haunted him forever, not being able to give them water.
After the museum I sat and listened to some Japanese girls playing guitar under a bridge, it put me in a much better mood.
J-Hoppers was an excellent hostel. I made a reservation there and found it with ease. The guy running it, Mamoru, was great in telling me where to go to get great food, other sights, and about a festival that night. I ate at a great restaraunt and then went to a bath house since I didn't bring towels, shampoo, bodywash, and the like. That was my plan, to find something like this or go buy some travel stuff and rent a towel at the hostel.
Right side was for men, the left for women. You could tell due to the gender of the child riding the dolphin on either little cloth flap in the doorways. I got a few stares going in, but my Japanese quickly turned their heads away. The clerk wasn't too surprised. She was about 40 something and had her little pedastal between both sections of the bath house. I paid her 400 to get in, and bought shampoo and soap and a towel for about 100 yen more. You strip right there too; so you immediately see naked guys when you walk in. This would be quite a shock to those apprehensive to the thought, but I've done this before and I don't carry the same American apprehensions... You then go into the bathring room and sit on a little stool and shower yourself off while sitting. Once you are completely clean, you go soak in the hot water in the giant bath. There was a sauna too, but I didn't use it. I just relaxed in the water for a good 10 minutes then went out, dried, and left. It felt so good.
When I got back, I ran into Cata (Catalina) and Kaori, two girls from Kansai who were also staying at J-Hoppers. My plan was to travel alone, but Cata is very outgoing and friendly (a little crazy,) but is one of the few Americans who wants to speak in Japanese and is sincerely interested in the culture. Kaori is just great too, so nice, fun, and of course is Japanese. She studied in Baltimore so her English is great, but we spoke in as much Japanese as we could. I can't even tell you how happy this made me to not be using English constantly. This is one of the reasons I came here.
Anyway, we all went to the Fall Festival that Hiroshima was having at several temples. Good food, cheap beer (300 yen!) and incredible folk dancing. I felt so bad that I left my camera at the hostel so I had only my cellphone for pictures and video. It was some story of a demon attacking some place, then two guys, one with a spear and one with a bow drive it off. The dance was incredible.
Afterwards we went to a mom and pop (literally, Mom and Pop were cooking together) place for okonomiyaki and chatted for a good two hours about being abroad, our cultures and how other people have been coping, and all sorts of things. Cata was adopted and has a Mexican father and an Irish mother. She's lived in Mexico and Washington State, so she has quite a background. Her third language too, very impressive. She and Kaori had facsinating perspectives on things. I love the international community at Gaidai. It's quite enriching, and I think I'll miss it very much.
In the morning we all went to Miyajima island together, since we were all heading there before we met anyway. They slept in a bit and kept me waiting, and I was thinking about going on ahead, but I would have regretted that. I don't even know why I thought that.
We rode the trolley to the ferry, and after a 10 minute ride we were there. It was gorgeous. Deer were all over the place, begging for food, sunning themselves, walking around, and (sometimes) being petted. Smaller than American deer. I pet quite a few since I love animals... We saw Itsukushina, which is the red Tori gate that seems to float over the water at high-tide. Also we visted Goju-no-to Pagoda and Senjou-kaku Temple. All gorgeous.
If I went alone, I don't think I would have done what we did next. We climed the highest mountain on the island. At first the girls got some ice-cream, and we had a deer accompany us for a good while, untill we ran up some steep stairs. Of course the trail was man-made, so there were hundreds of steep steps winding up the mountain. Cata climbs rugged mountains for fun, so Kaori and I were trailing behind, gasping for air.
Almost towards the top we ran into a guy who said he saw thirty or so monkeys at the top. That was another thing I really wanted to see here: wild monkeys. One nearly attacked him though.
We encountered a Japanese girl right before the top, who was descending the trail in high heels. Almost all Japanese girls wear these movement-inhibiting shoes, but... on a mountain trail?
No monkeys at the top though, which was dissapointing. However, the view made it wholly worthwhile. You could see other islands, and all of Hiroshima, and even further out. The weather was perfect. We spent a good bit of time there taking in the sights, but the girls had an appointment to pick up some local snacks for souveniers for friends at a shop, so we had to descend. Great Japanese (and some English) conversation the whole time though.
We took the ferry back and grabbed some dinner at a family restauraunt. To our surprise, 75% of the place was occupied by a british highschool class. Ugh. A little annoying, but the food was fantastic, as always.
The shinkansen ride back was with more conversation, but we became delirious with exhaustion, so I don't even remember what most of it was about. I had a good chat with Kaori on the regular train ride back from Osaka.
Just a great trip over all. Go to Hiroshima and Miyajima if you ever get the chance. The Peace Museum is very important, and the local beauty shouldn't be missed either. This was definitely my best weekend.
Other recent things aren't as exciting, right now it's mid-term week, so I should be studying more than writing here, but I need to. Things are going well though... Japanese is going fine and the Asian Studies courses are dissapointingly easy.
Maybe Nara this weekend? Or perhaps Kobe with some Osaka and a few forgotten emperor's tombs south of Osaka. We'll see.
I made it from Shin-Osaka station to Hiroshima just fine. It took me a little while to figure out where the street cars were, but once again, navigating in Japan is very simple. The street cars were very convenient and cheap as well. You can get day passes for them and the JR train line, plus ferries to Miyajima.
I rushed to the museum because I did not know when our school was going to have the presentation by a 被爆者/ひばくしゃ(Atomic Bomb victim). Trying to inquire about the speaker was difficult since I didn't know the word 被爆者 to begin with, but after saying "speaker" and "Kansai Gaidai" I got the point across and found out I had ample time to explore the museum and grounds before the talk.
The beginning focuses on Japan from the Russo-Japanese war to the creation and deployment of the bomb. All of this was on the walls, and in the middle was a model of Hiroshima before and after the bomb. The next exhibit showed more destruction and the cleanup, along with some of the treatments for victims. Then the third area was on what an atomic bomb is, what current ones are like, who has them and how many, and the need to get rid of these weapons.
Then there's a break with a bookstore, where I bought the first thick volume of はだしのゲン (Barefoot Gen) and 夕凪の街、桜の国 (Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms). I wish I got the smaller editions of Barefoot Gen as they were a bit more colorful, and this is kind of bulky... But anyway, they are two important manga that deal with Hiroshima, the former in the initial event and the latter in coping thereafter. I'm looking forward to reading them.
The second half of the museum displays artifacts including disfigured household items, building materials such as warped metals, and many common things that seem as if they were dragged from the depths of the sea. Also this part dealt more with the human suffering, a few models of disfigured people, actual photos, and human remains such as singed locks of hair, finger nails, skin, and tattered clothing. Many people had their skin melt right off of their bodies, and had the skin of their arms hanging tattered from their arms; literally melted off. Incredibly gruesome and ghastly in appearance. People bled from most orifaces or from their skin, begged for water (which was contaminated) and died from awful pain. Of course many were also instantaneously vaporized. Others further out were poisoned, blinded, or burnt.
Our speaker presented to us in English, but was difficult to hear. She was very sick, and had no eyelids due to the blast. She related to us how her and her friends were in a field when it happened, and her good friend was disfigured in front of her. She was burnt as well. People jumped into the water to cool themselves or to drink, and died in the water or in wells. The cries for water were common. She went throughout life in constant physical and mental pain and could never get married, like many surrvivors. She dedicated her life to lecturing, and came to not hate the Americans but war itself, and now fights for not just nuclear proliferation but cluster bombs and land mines.
The museum was very fair and balanced in representation, so there was a very sincere portrayal of a desire for peace from the city and victims of Hiroshima. The speaker said that they should have done a better job with the grave nature of the suffering of the victims, and upon reflection that could very well be true, so I reccomend that if you do go, you should look into literature and documentaries afterwards.
I went to the victims memorial afterwards and it was a circular room with a tile mosiac of the view from the hospital after the bomb was dropped (where the hospital used to stand). Each tile represented a victim. That put things into perspective well enough. There was a fountain inside the room, and one outside the memorial, and the reason was explained in the next room through the stories of three victims. So many people begged and moaned for water, so fountains were built to commemorate them. In one story a man related that he was in the army at the time and his commander would not let him give water to anyone as they thought it would kill them quickly. True, they needed water due to the heat dehydrating them, but the water was also contaiminated. It haunted him forever, not being able to give them water.
After the museum I sat and listened to some Japanese girls playing guitar under a bridge, it put me in a much better mood.
J-Hoppers was an excellent hostel. I made a reservation there and found it with ease. The guy running it, Mamoru, was great in telling me where to go to get great food, other sights, and about a festival that night. I ate at a great restaraunt and then went to a bath house since I didn't bring towels, shampoo, bodywash, and the like. That was my plan, to find something like this or go buy some travel stuff and rent a towel at the hostel.
Right side was for men, the left for women. You could tell due to the gender of the child riding the dolphin on either little cloth flap in the doorways. I got a few stares going in, but my Japanese quickly turned their heads away. The clerk wasn't too surprised. She was about 40 something and had her little pedastal between both sections of the bath house. I paid her 400 to get in, and bought shampoo and soap and a towel for about 100 yen more. You strip right there too; so you immediately see naked guys when you walk in. This would be quite a shock to those apprehensive to the thought, but I've done this before and I don't carry the same American apprehensions... You then go into the bathring room and sit on a little stool and shower yourself off while sitting. Once you are completely clean, you go soak in the hot water in the giant bath. There was a sauna too, but I didn't use it. I just relaxed in the water for a good 10 minutes then went out, dried, and left. It felt so good.
When I got back, I ran into Cata (Catalina) and Kaori, two girls from Kansai who were also staying at J-Hoppers. My plan was to travel alone, but Cata is very outgoing and friendly (a little crazy,) but is one of the few Americans who wants to speak in Japanese and is sincerely interested in the culture. Kaori is just great too, so nice, fun, and of course is Japanese. She studied in Baltimore so her English is great, but we spoke in as much Japanese as we could. I can't even tell you how happy this made me to not be using English constantly. This is one of the reasons I came here.
Anyway, we all went to the Fall Festival that Hiroshima was having at several temples. Good food, cheap beer (300 yen!) and incredible folk dancing. I felt so bad that I left my camera at the hostel so I had only my cellphone for pictures and video. It was some story of a demon attacking some place, then two guys, one with a spear and one with a bow drive it off. The dance was incredible.
Afterwards we went to a mom and pop (literally, Mom and Pop were cooking together) place for okonomiyaki and chatted for a good two hours about being abroad, our cultures and how other people have been coping, and all sorts of things. Cata was adopted and has a Mexican father and an Irish mother. She's lived in Mexico and Washington State, so she has quite a background. Her third language too, very impressive. She and Kaori had facsinating perspectives on things. I love the international community at Gaidai. It's quite enriching, and I think I'll miss it very much.
In the morning we all went to Miyajima island together, since we were all heading there before we met anyway. They slept in a bit and kept me waiting, and I was thinking about going on ahead, but I would have regretted that. I don't even know why I thought that.
We rode the trolley to the ferry, and after a 10 minute ride we were there. It was gorgeous. Deer were all over the place, begging for food, sunning themselves, walking around, and (sometimes) being petted. Smaller than American deer. I pet quite a few since I love animals... We saw Itsukushina, which is the red Tori gate that seems to float over the water at high-tide. Also we visted Goju-no-to Pagoda and Senjou-kaku Temple. All gorgeous.
If I went alone, I don't think I would have done what we did next. We climed the highest mountain on the island. At first the girls got some ice-cream, and we had a deer accompany us for a good while, untill we ran up some steep stairs. Of course the trail was man-made, so there were hundreds of steep steps winding up the mountain. Cata climbs rugged mountains for fun, so Kaori and I were trailing behind, gasping for air.
Almost towards the top we ran into a guy who said he saw thirty or so monkeys at the top. That was another thing I really wanted to see here: wild monkeys. One nearly attacked him though.
We encountered a Japanese girl right before the top, who was descending the trail in high heels. Almost all Japanese girls wear these movement-inhibiting shoes, but... on a mountain trail?
No monkeys at the top though, which was dissapointing. However, the view made it wholly worthwhile. You could see other islands, and all of Hiroshima, and even further out. The weather was perfect. We spent a good bit of time there taking in the sights, but the girls had an appointment to pick up some local snacks for souveniers for friends at a shop, so we had to descend. Great Japanese (and some English) conversation the whole time though.
We took the ferry back and grabbed some dinner at a family restauraunt. To our surprise, 75% of the place was occupied by a british highschool class. Ugh. A little annoying, but the food was fantastic, as always.
The shinkansen ride back was with more conversation, but we became delirious with exhaustion, so I don't even remember what most of it was about. I had a good chat with Kaori on the regular train ride back from Osaka.
Just a great trip over all. Go to Hiroshima and Miyajima if you ever get the chance. The Peace Museum is very important, and the local beauty shouldn't be missed either. This was definitely my best weekend.
Other recent things aren't as exciting, right now it's mid-term week, so I should be studying more than writing here, but I need to. Things are going well though... Japanese is going fine and the Asian Studies courses are dissapointingly easy.
Maybe Nara this weekend? Or perhaps Kobe with some Osaka and a few forgotten emperor's tombs south of Osaka. We'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
