Sean was at work all day today, so Dave and I had to navigate our own way through Tokyo. Thanks to Google Maps we were fine - though I neglected to look at my i-phone compass one time and took us a few blocks in the wrong direction. And Google Maps doesn't say "this station has no escalator or elevator" so I did a few more sets of stairs than I prefer to (my Fitbit says I did 15 flights).
We arrived at the kabuki venue, called Kabukiza Theatre, in good time for the second act. On the day of a kabucki performance you can purchase a ticket for a single act, which lasts around an hour, and is enough for most neophytes. It is at the top of the theatre - 60 seats and standing room for more. Most kabuki shows, in a one-half day performance, have one traditional formal act, one dance act, and one domestic soap opera type act. We got the dance one, which was in two parts. Thank goodness for that. The Kabukiza theatre was made for shorter people than us - my knees were screaming with pain pressed up to the seat in front, but I got to stand up for a couple of minutes between dances. They are very stylized plays, with traditional Japanese music and singing (the orchestra/chorus is onstage too), a lot of white face make-up and beautiful kimono. Unfortunately photography is forbidden during the performance. A good experience, but I'd opt to stand if I went again. We had an English translator machine, which told us what was going on onstage.
We had a quick snack after the theatre, and then took the subway to Tokyo Tower. (No prizes are offered for a correct guess as to what famous tower it is modeled after.) We took the elevator up to the main viewing platform. There are more tall buildings in this part of Tokyo than in Asakusa area where we went up the Skytree, so the view was more what I expected it to look like. Right below Tokyo Tower is Zijo-ji Temple and grounds, so there is a patch of green in all the concrete.
After we came down from the tower we went to visit Zijo-ji Temple - it was the family temple of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the Tokugawa mausolea are there - 6 of the Tokugawa shoguns are buried there. There is also an unborn children garden where rows of stone statues of children represent unborn children, including miscarried, aborted and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing (most have hats and bibs) and toys (a lot of whirly-gigs) and fresh flowers. They are known as Jizo statues, as Jizo is the Buddhist god of unborn children. Quite touching. After this we took the subway back to our hotel, arriving in time to be here when Sean came by after work to accompany us to supper. A busy day.
We arrived at the kabuki venue, called Kabukiza Theatre, in good time for the second act. On the day of a kabucki performance you can purchase a ticket for a single act, which lasts around an hour, and is enough for most neophytes. It is at the top of the theatre - 60 seats and standing room for more. Most kabuki shows, in a one-half day performance, have one traditional formal act, one dance act, and one domestic soap opera type act. We got the dance one, which was in two parts. Thank goodness for that. The Kabukiza theatre was made for shorter people than us - my knees were screaming with pain pressed up to the seat in front, but I got to stand up for a couple of minutes between dances. They are very stylized plays, with traditional Japanese music and singing (the orchestra/chorus is onstage too), a lot of white face make-up and beautiful kimono. Unfortunately photography is forbidden during the performance. A good experience, but I'd opt to stand if I went again. We had an English translator machine, which told us what was going on onstage.
We had a quick snack after the theatre, and then took the subway to Tokyo Tower. (No prizes are offered for a correct guess as to what famous tower it is modeled after.) We took the elevator up to the main viewing platform. There are more tall buildings in this part of Tokyo than in Asakusa area where we went up the Skytree, so the view was more what I expected it to look like. Right below Tokyo Tower is Zijo-ji Temple and grounds, so there is a patch of green in all the concrete.
After we came down from the tower we went to visit Zijo-ji Temple - it was the family temple of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the Tokugawa mausolea are there - 6 of the Tokugawa shoguns are buried there. There is also an unborn children garden where rows of stone statues of children represent unborn children, including miscarried, aborted and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing (most have hats and bibs) and toys (a lot of whirly-gigs) and fresh flowers. They are known as Jizo statues, as Jizo is the Buddhist god of unborn children. Quite touching. After this we took the subway back to our hotel, arriving in time to be here when Sean came by after work to accompany us to supper. A busy day.
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