Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Kabuki

To wrap up the weekend on Sunday, I went to Hikone Cultural Plaza to watch kabuki theater with Loritta. Kabuki is a traditional Japanese form of theater that combines drama and music/dance. Casts of these plays are usually all male. Tickets to see kabuki can be pretty expensive, but we only had to pay ¥2000 to see this performance.

I learned while I was there that kabuki can also get pretty long; the show lasted almost 3 hours. On Friday and Saturday I'd only gotten a combined 10 hours of sleep, so I nodded off every now and then. But I thoroughly enjoyed what I was able to see.



Loritta and I sat toward the back, and from the beginning men sitting behind us would frequently yell out random exclamations during the performance. I was surprised and confused, since Japanese people seem to be so reserved and very much concerned with respect, decorum, and order. However, I learned that this is also part of kabuki tradition. During performances, a few highly knowledgeable (and only male) members of the audience will sit near the back of the theater and yell something to 1) acknowledge renowned actors when they appear, or 2) mark poignant moments in the play. Interesting right? I'm glad those men were there because they not only made the experience more entertaining, but also woke me up a time or two.


70 Days in Kansai photos (JULY/AUGUST) \
 70 Days in Kansai photos (JUNE)

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