NOH in Osaka

I had a slow Monday at work today. I was supposed to teach two classes, but was excused from one due to midterms last week (they went over the scores and information), but I missed the second one due to miscommunication. Nobody told me about a schedule change with the first years until I went to talk to my co-team teacher about the lesson plan and discovered he had already finished our lesson (doing only grammar). Mottainai, NE?! I actually like my busier days, so it was a let-down, but I also feel like there have been a lot of communication gaps like this one lately. Either I need to pay more attention to the chourei (morning meetings), although I usually do, or else I really need to work on becoming literate in this country. Granted, I have an upcoming Japanese proficiency test so that should be a goal anyways, but I honestly haven't been able to formally study Japanese for days now. Grad school applications are due next week and take precedence :-P

So while the day was a little drab, I did have a good evening. One of my coworkers reserved tickets to a NOH play at Osaka Daigakuin University in Osaka, so we jetted out of school, hopped a JR train out of Kakogawa and got to the theater around 5pm. Noh is a traditional form of Japanese folk art, essentially a play with masks and very slow movements. I am still sad I missed the famous Takasago Noh twice now, but it rained on this year's performance, so maybe it was a sign tonight was better. We watched four short plays, two which seemed like short, musical skits and one comedy before a longr, more taditional performance. My coworker said she understood 10% of what was going on in the last performance because they use an old form of Japanese (a bit more obscure than Shakespearian English). It made me feel better to hear that because I understood a few parts of the comedy, but literally nothing of the traditional Noh. If there hadn't been a lecture beforehand (which was translated for me) explaining the plot and some characteristics of the art form, I would have been lost.

I have been warned that NOH is boring, but, in hindsight, it was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be. The whole performance lasted a little less than the scheduled 3 hours, but it was a long time to sit in one place when you don't understand anything that is going on. There is generally no 'dialogue' (only singing that sounds like wailing, or 'joiking' if you are familiar with Sami culture or Marie Boine), so this might be the same for everyone. Furthermore, the roles are all played by men, so the female parts usually wear an ambigious, clay mask. The style that we experienced also incorporated large flaminging torches and lanterns along the top of the stage, which provided most of the light (in addition to some stage lights). You can find more information about NOH theatre here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh.

We had stopped at the unversity's cafeteria before the show (basically a big McDonalds - and they say Americans are unhealthy...). I tried the "ebi burger" (or a clump of baby shrimp deep-fried into a burger shape and put on a bun with sesame sauce). It was a little too crispy for me (a lot like tempura), but it left us full, so we weren't ready for dinner when the show ended at 8:30. Instead of going out in Osaka, my coworker and I stopped in Akashi. I led us to the little okonomiyaki place Robyn brought me to last week and we both had tofu okonomiyaki (with sweet Awaji onions) and talked for a while.

So anyways, it was a good night. I don't know if I'll go to see Noh again (unless it's somehow shown in Takasago while I'm here), but after seeing both Noh and bunraku (traditional puppet theater), I am going to try to make it to kabuki in Kyoto sometime soon!