Hisashiburi!

久し振り(hisashiburi)
"It's been a while/ long time, no see!"

Sorry that I'm pretty lazy with this! Here comes another entry!

Last Wednesday, I went to a play with my mother. It was called "Mori no Ishimatsu" (森の石松) which is the main character's name. It was really funny! I did not understand it at all, it was a Yakuza period drama (maybe Edo period...), so the men spoke with an old-fashioned AND gangster accent. But I loved it, regardless!

See the bigger picture <3

The guy at the front is Ishimatsu, or Issan. He's a lower level yakuza who loves sake, and is in love with Bochan (the girl in the white Kimono). The young man on the left is another lower level yakuza, who helps Issan when he is being attacked by five other yakuza, thus becoming friends. The 'lady' on the right (played by a male) is a geisha/former geisha who is taking care of the little boy. The story of Issan and the yakuza is separate from the story of the geisha and the little boy, until the end of the play. It is important to note that every character is interesting, comedic, but not slapstick. This play was a comedy, but also an action, period drama, which is what made it so interesting to watch!

Synopsis of what I understood (this is a little long, skip if you don't want to read it!): Issan is a fairly strong yakuza, we see him cutting down other men from the beginning of the movie. He also loves sake, but he's a kind-hearted, lovable man. The young man, we'll call him U-san (I think his name is Umai, or some variation of that), is the member of another Yakuza group. I'm not sure why, but U-san has to do something (vague, i know) for his boss. From what I gather, he gets money or a sort of boon from another Yakuza boss (this trip takes place over the middle 2/4 of the play). Issan helps U-san get this boon. Okay, this is getting a little confusing, and a little chopped up! Sorry, you all know I'm really bad at telling stories!

(((I can not really give a good synopsis of the story because there are so many little things I want to add in! But if you are interested in hearing more, skype me or catch me on gmail, aim or facebook. I would love to tell you more detailed aspects if you want!)))

One of the scenes that really epitomizes Ossan's character is the boat scene, and for some reason basically the whole cast is there! After U-san is 'borrowed' by a group of [drunk] ladies to sing to them (did I mention he has a great voice? He was played by a semi-well known singer), Ossan starts talking to the other [three] men on the boat. They, too, are Yakuza and the four start drinking. Ossan asks who the strongest is and they keep saying names, none of which are 'Mori no Ishimatsu', so Issan keeps giving them alcohol. It was funny because at one point I believe they started listing off the actors names. I think....So, Ossan is drunk, the other yakuza are drunk and finally, they say his name. It's all good!

The next scene that sticks out in my memory is the sword fight. Of course there is a sword fight! It was A.MA.ZING! This happens after Issan and U-san get the boon/money from big boss, and return to give it to U-san's boss. Well, U-san's boss does not want to accept it, for some reason, but Issan scares/threatens him into it. See? Issan is bad-ass. But no one knows it, for some reason. Well, U-san's boss did not like that, not one bit, so he rounds up the posse (not a western!! haha) and decides to hunt down Issan. They ambush him at a temple but after a small skirmish Issan get's away, slightly battle damaged (they had cut off his top-knot, so his hair was flying everywhere! He looked so funny with that bald-spot ^__^).

After a bit more of tiny skirmishes, they finally have him surrounded! He does not go down easily (he's been stabbed all over, cut down his back, and is bleeding profusely! ). The fighting was great! There were spins, jabs and all sorts of fancy, yakuza-style fencing. Okay, so, not really fancy, but it was nicely choreographed! In the end, of course, Issan is cut down and he dies in U-san's arm (U-san then proceeds to shout 'Anikiiiiiii' which means 'brother' and it goes black. wow. strong stuff!).

So, I've left out a bit, err....a lot. Especially about the geisha and the little boy. Pretty much that pair reflects Issan's childhood, as it was that same geisha who took care of Issan when he was a little boy! She mourns the fact that Issan became a yakuza and wants her current charge to grow into a 'good man'. During Issan's death, she has a little monologue about how sad she was. Whatever, I didn't like her anyway. -___-;;

End of synopsis.

Whew! Sorry about that! That took way too long!

Friday I went to a Kabuku play. It was four hours long (with two 20 minute breaks, and one 10 minute break). And it was only 1/4 of the actual play! What?

The Kabuki play was 'The 47 Ronin'. I'm not going to give you a description, because you can find it on wikipedia if you search '47 ronin kabuki' and scroll down to the kabuki section. We just saw four scenes of the play, which was amazing and boring. I actually almost fell asleep during the last scene because I was getting so used to the strange way of talking, that I was being lulled to sleep! Not to mention that rain was pounding so loudly on the roof that it was like a white-noise machine.

What can I say about Kabuki? It is definitely an acquired taste. They speak an incomprehensible form of Japanese (well, mostly incomprehensible. I saw many people wearing the translator device on their ears, and yes, they were translating it into Japanese). One thing I want you all to know about kabuki, is that it is an all-male cast, even though there are many female characters. Men play women! It is actually an accomplished art form and many people think that these men have been trained to play women better than women can play women! (although I'm sure it's not so common a thought anymore). If you think that's sexist, don't. The men do a good job and women have their own form of women-only acting called 'Takarazuka". Back to Kabuki: the costumes were amazing, and the acting was so...interesting. If a group of Americans was watching kabuki, the would burst out laughing at the climax of scenes. I would have laughed, but I would have been the only one in a room of....a lot of people. (Oh, did I mention I sat pretty close? I was in the first section, in the 9th row! That means sitting on the FLOOR on a think cushion.)

So, why would we laugh at this traditional Japanese art-form? Right! Because at the climax scenes, the actors strike strange poses and, at least the bad guy, makes a face that involves sticking his tongue out and hissing! It was pretty cool, because all the main characters had their faces painted in some way. The bad guy had lines painted into his face, so he looked almost like a demon mask. The other main character of the first part had his face painted completely white, with black accents for his eyebrows and eyes, and red for his mouth. There was another samurai with his face painted this way (It's a samurai drama, btw.).

My seat was great because it was right next to the 'hana-michi', which means 'flower street'. It's a perpendicular extension of the stage that divides the audience in half. It's a staple of any Kabuki stage. It basically brings the action into the audience, and creates a place for dramatic entrances and exits. One of the bests scenes that utilized the hana-michi was near the end, when a bunch of samurai rushed towards the main gates of a castle, to avenge their master's suicide, but they were stopped by their fellow samurai. It was great! There were about 15-18 men that rushed forward, and about 7 that pushed them back! It was a lot of commotion and shouting!

And, for all the stylized acting, traditional instrumental and singing, there was actually a bit of comedy in it! I was quite amazed at one scene, where a buffoonish underling of the bad guy was instructing other underlings on how to ambush someone. Their was a lot of pantomime and slapstick in that scene! Wow!

In all, I would probably love to go back to another Kabuki play. I still want to experience the other popular arts such as Takarazuka (which I mention in this post a little earlier), Bunraku (which is traditional puppet theatre) and Noh (older, and less-dramatic that Kabuki, and less ridiculous, except the main characters wear masks). So interesting...

Okay, that's a lot. I've written too much (and for too long!), not much is actually that interesting to anyone but me (sorry!). I have a Japanese test tomorrow and I need to study! ByeBye!

And so it goes...

Today was a no-school holiday celebrating the founding of Waseda. And, on that note, I shall tell you a little of Waseda's history!

Waseda was founded by Okuma Shigenobu in 1882 and, in case you forget this fact, there are statues of him everywhere around Waseda Campus. In fact, his main statue is a common meeting place for students so, even if you do not know his name, you know his face. Anyway, it was founded during the Meiji Restoration and I vaguely recall my history teacher making a point about this. Maybe it was one of the first Universities? Something like that. I feel silly not knowing. Anyway, if you want to know more than that, check out Waseda's home page (here's a convenient link) or you could always go to wikipedia.

here's a nifty picture of
Okuma which we shorten to 大隈銅像
in text messages...i think

Oh, a little story I meant to tell you guys: When I was in Shibuya on Friday (see previous post) I ran into an Earlham friend, Carlos. It was pretty whack. Shibuya is definitly the strangest place to run into someone you know, because it's always full of people (just like the rest of Japan >.<). When I first saw him he was, go figure, looking at a car. Good story, yeah?

Now, onto Today. I went to Ueno and Akihabara. Sounds exciting, yeah? It was nice, but Akihabara was a little bit of a dud. Maybe I just didn't go to the right place? Akihabara is popular for electronics and otaku (anime-fans). And there was a lot of electronics and a lot of anime culture. It was exactly what I expected.

I'm quitting my life as a
student so I can become a maid
and serve tea and cake
to all the Akiba-otakus!!!!!!

So, I know that wasn't much of a post. Better luck next time, eh? Check out my photos on facebook. I should be posting a new album or two within the next 24 hours!

Culture Shock

Culture Shock #1

Instead of writing about boogers, mystical Japanese remedies or plastic surgery (all very interesting subjects) I am going to write about the strange, passive-aggressive/aggressive side of Japan I never actually knew about. Then I'll give you a more interesting 'culture shock'.

I have two anecdotes I wish to relay onto you, my dear readers. The first concerns my Japanese teacher, Itou-sensei, and her fun culture lessons. Her first nugget of wisdom came in the warning of 'not to look at Japanese people in the eye'. You never know when someone is going to stab you. The next lesson we revieved, was a warning not to stand too close to the tracks when waiting for our trains. Why? Because someone might push us into them! But, Itou sensei, why would someone want to do that? Do they dislike foreigners? No, it's because sometimes, Japanese people do it. Who knows, maybe it's stress?

These are just warm-ups. The final Itou-ism concerns the lady, herself. As she tells it, she was on her morning train when the woman sitting next to her fell asleep, and her head dropped onto Itou sensei's shoulder. Naturally, Itou sensei did nothing, that is UNTIL she got off, when she gave the sleeping woman a nudge in the ribs. Ouch!

My next story is just as crazy as the last one. It happened after I crossed the big intersection in Shibuya (the one from the video). A lady had tripped and, from my standpoint, the culprit was her shoes catching on the textured part of the sidewalk (which helps blind people 'see'). When she gets up, she swings her plastic shopping bag (which has something in it) at a random girl. And by swing, I mean bases-loaded-gee-i-hope-i-get-a-home-run swing. Kapow! My only response was 'Whaa?' Seriously, the girl did not deserve to be attacked. I mean, seriously?

That was shocking to me...

Now, something a little more fun:
See? See? Seeee? The one with the pink hair! We call them 'Gyaru' or 'Gals' This is actually a whole range of the 'Gal' style, but my favorite is the ganguro-gyaru, aka the one with the pink hair and white war paint. (In Shibuya, in front of Shibuya 109)
<3<3<3

I want to write a little piece called 'culture shock', but I really want the reader's opinion so...Mom, Dad, please leave your comments (hahaaaa). But seriously, anything you guys and gals want to know about? Anything you've heard you want me to confirm or any myth you want me to....BUST? (I <3 Mythbusters).

If you all have no opinions, I'm going to start 'culture shock' with my breakfasts because, let me tell you...Every morning I get a little culture shock just looking at it <3.

Lydia

Another Week...Gone

Hey! I'm doing it! I'm making another post :)

Again, school the week went by and I do not have much to say on that. It's a little odd, how little I to say on that subject. Right now, my biggest complaint is my [in]ability to do my reading homework. For some reason, my Art History teacher does not give us a syllabus, but expects us to go online and search for it (okay, maybe that sounds a little lazy). Once we find said reading list in the vast web that is Waseda's "Course N@vi" we have to decipher what the heck it says (it really is a jumble of book and journal titles and no dates), and then we have to, somehow, find the readings in the library. Oh, and, there's one or two books for about 35 students. Yeah...not happening. So in the two weeks of school I've done NO reading. I need to talk to the teacher again about how impossible it is to do his homework.

On to the important stuff. Japan. I mean, that's the only reason we're doing this, right? Me, so I can post all the fun, exotic and strange things that surround me and you, so you can read them!

On Saturday, I had my first club meeting. I joined a club called 'Waseda Donuts' a.k.a. 'Wasedo'. After a bit of confusion I managed to meet up with Takero, the co-leader (and a first year, I might add). At first I was afraid I had joined the wrong club, because everyone brought an instrument. There was a guitar, a green clarinet-type thingy, three recorders, an ocarina, a cow bell, a few tambourines, and some cute, kiddie bells. However, once they all started to practice songs like, 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' I didn't feel so bad. I mean, I still had nothing to contribute besides my madd tambourine skillz, but I managed. Then (and here's where some people got weirded out) we went to a sports center to PLAY WITH CHILDREN (All three of them)! Haha, no, they came to us, and we did 'Halloween' stuff. And by that, I mean we did some makeup, some balloon animals, and a musical jam-session. Just like the real Halloween. Oh, did I mention we ate donuts? Yum!

Is that not the cutest kid ever? His name
is Hiro, and he was wild. He's wearing
a nice, traditional halloween costume :)

After a few hours with the kids, we had a nomikai. That translate to 'drinking meeting' and is pretty much what it sounds like. There was dinner too, but the main event is the drinking. We started at 7:30 or 8, and went until 10:30. It is important to start early, because if you rely on a train or subway to take you home, the last one's leave around 11:30 pm. It's pretty inconvenient, but [almost] everyone has to deal with it. So, at 10:30, we left and split into two groups. One group went home (I think?), the other group did a 'second round'. I was in the second round, but I did not stay too long. I had an earlier train to catch. But, I managed to get a membership card for an 'izakaya' (Japanese style bar), so I'm looking forward to that :) All-in-all, I think it was a pretty good day. I hope they ask me to come back :)

Yesterday I was with the Earlham kids (including the Waseda students who were there last year), we walked through Harajuku, Shibuka and ended the night with monjyaki. Monjyaki looks gross. I'm just going to include some pictures, you can judge for yourself what it looks like. What I really want to talk about is Shibuya. Shibuya is famous for a few things; shopping, partying, the statue of Hachiko and Shibuya Crossing. I believe it is one of the worlds most traversed crossings? Well, I'm sure I'm making this up but, see for yourself what it's like:


I started the video before we crossed, and stopped it before we finished.

So, there you have a little taste of what Japan is like. What did you think? Do you recognize it from 'Lost in Translation'? :)

Here's Haruna making the monjyaki...notice
how runny and icky it looks?
It gets a little thicker as it cooks...but it's still odd.

Well, I'm off to bed. Got to get up early if I want to be able to fit on those trains, yeah? ^_^

-Lydia

p.s. anything you guys and girls want to see? Send me your requests! haha! Thanks for reading and, as always, I apologize for any spelling errors :)

I`ve been a bad girl...

Hey people who read this!

Sorry, by now most of you realize how lazy I am. I have a hard time updating a blog once a week. I hope people actually are checking it, because I made it for you guys! Yay! *insert happy face*I`m just going to do a quick update, I am at school right now.

Last weekend went down like this:

Thursday: Checked out `The Hub` after school. At night, it is basically only Waseda kids, and some foreigners. It`s an Irish Pub, what do you expect? Haha, anyway it`s expensive, smokey and all the good stuff that pubs usually are. I returned home early that night (left at half past 10, got home after 11).

Friday: Did some stuff in the morning (no class), went shopping around Takada no Baba (a big station near waseda). Then, went to Harajuku with some girls. Walked up and down the main st, did a lot of window shopping. I lost my phone, then found it again. It`s all good...I`ll talk more about that night in my next entry.

Saturday: What did I do? I did homework. At night, I met the Waseda kids who were at Earlham last year, and had dinner plus all we could drink. It was pretty awesome, except that the place we went to served us mostly pork foods, and I didn`t eat a lot. On the bright side, I ended up paying nothing. Thanks Earlham! Also, that night was great, because I managed to catch both of my last trains! Yay for not having to get a taxi.

Sunday: I was lazy, until I realized there was a bbq arranged by the club that was helping us at our orientation. I rushed through my shower and managed to meet everyone. Funny note: there was a well dressed Japanese man passed out near our meeting spot. Awesome! The bbq was okay...having to take an hour long train ride to get there was NOT nice. It ended up okay, i ate lots of beef! Finally! Went home, took a shower, did homework.

Okay! Sorry for the cave-man talk, sorry for the spelling mistakes. I hope that satisfies the thirst for knowledge until tomorrow :)

LYDIAAAAAA