Spitting Images and Other Distractions: Kyogen in Kamakura

Yes, there are tons of pictures from the 10th Annual Tokyo Quilt Festival in the offing but not until I catch you up on Ikebana and JAW. The third week of January was as hectic as the third week of every other month I've spent in Japan. Between cooking and cleaning for the JAW ladies and - horror of horrors - having to brew my own coffee, clean the litter box, and haul out the trash while the Ancient Mariner pondered the room service menu somewhere in Washington, DC, uploading pictures fell by the wayside.

The Ikebana crowd and their families assembled in Kamakura for a Kyogen performance last Saturday. Kyogen is an ancient form of Japanese comedy that developed alongside Noh. I spent hours researching Kyogen when I was preparing the invitation for the American members but I'll spare you the lecture. If you want to know more, go here.

The actor on the left is a third-generation Kyogen actor frequently seen on television in this part of the world. When he demonstrated the characteristic exaggerated laughter and sorrow for us, he was the spitting image of my favorite character in the Full Metal Alchemist anime series. Matt and I watched about 834 episodes of Full Metal Alchemist in 2006 and 2007 and most of the Japanese I have mastered is compliments of following the bouncing ball in the theme songs (plural, as new songs were introduced every twenty episodes or so).

The actor on the right is Czech. He came to Japan to study Kyogen with the Japanese actor's father. This young man is the spitting image of Professor Miller who taught Eastern European History at the University of West Florida in the mid-1990s.



Front Row:  Xan at far left, Czech Ambassador at far right


Distracted by memories of Full Metal Alchemist, Professor Miller, and a certain college freshman, I spent more time watching the audience than the performance. My little friend Xan was quite fetching in her flowered purple kimono and the Czech ambassador, present to support her young countryman, was a breath of fresh air. The ambassador arrived sans entourage, went unrecognized, and stood patiently in line behind a gaggle of Japanese ladies to collect her name badge. This is an effective form of diplomacy the U.S. State Department would be wise emulating. The phrase 'how to make friends and influence people' comes to mind.

Watanabe-san, standing here, greeted me with the disturbing news that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is scheduled for surgery next week. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. These days I am combing the internet for Christmas stocking knitting patterns to help distract her because she told me last month she would like to try making a stocking like the ones my mother knit for my husband and children. Remind me to show you the sewing box she delivered to my doorstep on Christmas Eve.

A happier distraction was running into Nobuko-san, the woman sitting on the far right side of the picture. We spent many happy hours with Nobuko and her husband the last time we lived in Japan, learning country line dancing and watching his band perform in their Hayama restaurant. Nobuko told me that her father, the owner of three department stores, passed away shortly after the Ancient Mariner and I left Japan and the Kyogen performance marked her first reappearance at Ikebana since his death. Her father's death coupled with the economic downturn meant selling the restaurant, shutting down half of the Yokosuka store, and Nobuko taking a job with an uncle. But she still dances as often as she can and I've promised to brush off my dancing shoes for her line dancing party in February.

The nice thing about line dancing is that it doesn't require a partner. Good thing, too, since the Ancient Mariner will be here and gone again by the time that party rolls around.