The tweezers

Last sunday saw me heading to the National Theater in Hanzomon for a rare treat of Kubuki. It was my hatsudai Taiken(first experience) We were fortunate enough to get some student tickets from a lovely friend of ours whose father is a professor.
I have heard lots of stories about Kabuki which originated in the 1500's.Some have said ita a marathon of boredom others have said its a must.Its similar to Shakespear in its colloquial language and many japanese find it hard to follow.For the Gaijin a sturdy little head set with translation is all you need!
We were treated to a little intro at the start of the show which made for a very succinct and interesting low down on what happens on the stage. Prop men actually sit on the stage and are usually dressed in black so that we dont notice them(which of course you do) There is a man who sits on the far right of the stage with clapper sticks who furiuosly beats them on the stage when a fight is taking place. Butterlies fly in on sticks attatched to the supposedly unseen prop man. Props get exchanged from small to big to create a kind of movie close up of the image.
Its a far cry from the conventional western Theatre that I am used too but made for a wonderfully interesting and unique experience.
Our show was about a noblemans house whose daughter was to be married to another nobleman but unfortunately due to some strange curse her hair stood up on end and she couldnt bear to go through with the marriage. The detective who came to the house ,called Danjo, soon found out with the help of his oversized tweezers that in fact there was a conspiracy in the house and one of the noblemans advisors was plotting to ruin the family .He had planted a rogue in the ceiling with a magnet which when coupled with the hair pins she wore made her hair stand on end! We are entertained to heis realisation of this when he plucks his chin during a quiet moment and his tweezers start dancing merrily on the stage!
Added to the originality of the story we were treated to beautifully exotic costumes that make for hard work when moving around the stage so movements are limited but purposeful.
I later found out that unlike out theatre companies ,here in japan you stay with one theatre comapany for your entire life.Its a dicscipline and you are trained from a young age.Every movement has a meaning and has been practiced for years.
Again it never fails to suprise me how the japanese are so dedicated to thier culture and how they continue to maintain it in its original form!
I hope I get to go again soon!