Me, Yuko, and
Yoko...Saturday, August 9th was the beginning of my homestay weekend. Everyone in our program had the opportunity to stay at the home of a Japanese family for a weekend. This was a great opportunity to experience the Japanese lifestyle firsthand. My homestay family was the Mizuno's. Yuko Mizuno is a teacher of a traditional form of Japanese dance and her husband is a chemical engineer. Yuko Mizuno contacted me about a week before the homestay weekend and asked me what I would like to do, suggesting that a Noh play would be an interesting activity. I was very interested in seeing a Noh play, especially after seeing Kabuki a few weeks earlier. Yuko said she would get the tickets and that we should meet near the theatre, in the ? section of Tokyo. The theatre was not large and therefore very intimate. The stage was constructed of beautiful blonde wood and consisted of a large central section with a walkway to the left which actors use to make their entrances and exits.
A Noh play is usually preceeded by a Kyogen play, which is a short, one-act play and is often comical or lighthearted in contrast to the more serious Noh. Before the Kyogen play, a woman came on stage to explain the Noh play. Noh is a very important and traditional part of Japanese culture and often needs some explanation--even for the Japanese. Of course, the explanation was in Japanese so I couldn't understand it, but I had an English description of the play which I read. The explanation was very in-depth and lasted about 45 minutes. Immedately after the explanantion the Kyogen play began. The title of the Kyogen play was Tsuki-Mi Zato (The Moon-Viewing Blindman). As is usual, there were a small number of actors--two in this case. However, instead of being comical, the play was very sad in my opinion. (Perhaps it was meant to be a dark comedy and I just didn't see it that way.) For an English description of Tsuki-Mi Zato, go here. The blindman was exceptionally well played by Shite. Even though I couldn't understand the Japanese, the emotions of the characters were very clear and I felt the sadness of the blindman at the end of the play.
After the Kyogen play there was an intermission and then the Noh play began. The Noh play was entitled Ugetsu (Rain and Moon). For an English description of Ugetsu, go here. I enjoyed Ugetsu, but not as much as Tsuki-Mi Zato. I could understand what was going on in Tsuki-Mi Zato more easily than Ugetsu without knowing Japanese because it was a much simpler story. But Ugetsu was very interesting and I again marvelled at the acting ability of Japanese actors. They are in a class by themselves.
After the Noh play we took the train to Yuko Mizuno's home. Yuko and her family live in one half of a double house in Shinagawa. Yuko's parents live in the other half of the house. Yuko's husband was away on business while was there and so was her father. Yuko's son was away at camp. But I did meet Yuko's mother, brother, and daughter. Yuko's daughter, Yoko, is about 12 and she showed me her samisen and played a bit for me. We had a very nice supper of fried chicken and katsuo (bonito). Both were excellectly prepared, especially the katsuo, which was cooked on the outside but still uncooked on the inside. After supper we all walked a few blocks to a matsuri (festival) site where kids could win prizes by playing various games. Also, people were dancing to music and generally having a good time.
Me, Yuko, and
Yoko...
Me, Yuko's mother,
and Yoko...
Yuko, Yuko's
mother, and Yoko...