Kabuki

こんにちはみなさん！
Konnichiwa Mina-san!

きのう、かぶきをみにいきました。
Kino, Kabuki wo mi ni ikimashita.
Yesterday, I went to see Kabuki.

Mina-san, have you ever heard of Kabuki? It's a traditional form of Japanese theater. If you've ever seen a picture of a woodblock print (ukiyo-e), or a photograph of a Japanese person with their face painted white and red around the eyes, you were probably looking at an image of a Kabuki actor.

Since female Kabuki actors were outlawed in the Edo Period (1603-1868), the performers are entirely male. A male kabuki actor playing a female is called "onna gata" (おんながた).

The play I went to see was designed as an entrance to the world of Kabuki for those who knew little about it--in particular, high school students. They had two famous young Kabuki actors introduce the stage and talk about Kabuki before and after the performance. They were Nakamura (last name comes first in Japanese) Hayato (age 16) and Nakamura Kazutaro (Age 19). The high school girls in the audience went crazy over them!

Sōjiji Temple

こんにちはみなさん！
Konnichiwa Mina-san!

きょうはそうじじにいきました。
Kyō wa Sōjiji ni ikimashita.
Today I went to Sōjiji (そうじじ)Temple. One of the most common religions in Japan is Buddhism, and this temple is an example of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism.

A Buddhist monk at the temple gave us a tour, and afterwards we practiced zazen, a seated form of meditation! Have you ever heard of it? It involves sitting on a special cushion called a zafu (ざふ)or zabuton (ざぶとん). You have to cross your legs, and pull your feet up to rest on your thighs. The hands are placed in a mudra as well. If you're interested, check out zazen meditation on youtube!


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New terms (atarashii kotoba)

-> Zen Buddhism
-> zafu
-> zabuton
-> zazen

にほん

こんにちはみなさん！
Konnichiwa mina-san!

I am in a part of Tokyo (とうきょう), Japan, called Yutenji.
Yutenji (ゆうてんじ) is named for the famous temple here, which I can see from the kitchen window!

I want to hear all about the things you're practicing in Japanese class! Post here and let me know what you are up to using NIHONGO (that's Japanese!) as much as you can. Also, let me know what you'd like to hear about or see pictures of on the blog (I don't have a camera yet, but hopefully soon).

またね。


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New terms (atarashii kotoba)

-> にほん　　 Nihon (Japan)
-> みなさん Mina-san (everyone)
-> とうきょう 　Tokyo
-> ゆうてんじ 　Yūtenji
-> またね Mata ne (later; see you later; catch you later)