Welcome to Nara! Nara was Japan's first capital. We're in the land of the deer. The people of Nara believe that deer are the messengers of the gods and do not interfere with them. That's why there are many deer roaming the area of Nara.
We're far from the busy streets of the city. It feels like home, just nicer. The air seems cleaner even though there are wild deer around.
The first stop on the Nara tour is Kasuga Shrine. According to DK Eyewitness Travel, Kasuga Shrine was built as a shrine for the Fujiwaras, one of the families that helped to establish Nara.During our exploration of the shrine, there is wedding ceremony in the main hall. It seems rare nowadays for Japanese couples to have a traditional Shinto ceremony. It is very quiet and calm. As the ceremony is over, people visiting the shrine congratulate the couple as they pass by.
A little behind schedule, we don't have time to wait for the bus to come back. We decide to walk to Todai-ji Temple.The sign outside the temple gates says that Todaiji Temple was built for Emperor Shomu and completed in 752. Emperor Shomu hoped that this would position Todaiji as the head temple and Vairocana Buddha as the central Buddhist deity of the Kokubunji system of provincial temples. The temple serves as both a place of prayer for peace as well as a center of Buddhist doctrinal research of the Kegon doctrine.
There are many people gathered here as well. It's amazing to me the amount of people that would go out during this heat. If I had my way, I'd probably go somewhere air conditioned. Once inside, you are staring right at the Great Buddha Vairocana.
You wouldn't think that this temple has had its share of disasters. It doesn't look like the temple experienced fires, earthquakes, or decapitations. The Japanese find ways to restore and preserve their past. They never forget that the past made them into what they are today. Sometimes I forget about that. Without the past, things today may not exists, including myself.
The day seems like its not going to end. Too bad we didn't have enough time to change for the Taishuengeki (大衆演劇). I have never heard of this before. The only types of theatrical performances Japan has to offer are Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku. Even Morton's text does not mention Taishuengeki, but does mention the others. So of course, I was skeptic about the unknown, especially when you tell someone it's three hours long.
We head back to Shinsekai. We're all skeptic about the show and wonder if there is a way out of watching the performance. When we get into the theatre, I thought it's like a smaller version of high school theatre.What is Taishuengeki? It literally means, "theatre for the masses." It is something like watching the local performing arts troop (i.e. Maui Academy of Performing Arts). They are not professional, but they try their hardest to keep this art alive.
The show starts with the dancing. Jayson said that this isn't a usual thing. Usually the dancing is at the end of the performance. How strange to start things backwards. Each member goes up and does their dance. As they perform, members of the audience go up and pin envelopes of money (or just the money), and some give gifts. The one's that just give the money I see 20,000 to 30,000 yen being pinned on them. This is to show their support to the art. They want the performers to keep doing what they are doing. This is all voluntary. These performers want to keep the art alive. I really respect these performers. I can understand how hard it is to explain to people why you are volunteering as a career. It's all for the passion of the art. Also, it's probably all the attention the receive from their fans.
There is a short intermission from the dancing, and in Osaka-style, jokes are made in the rules for tonight's performance. They also announce that tonight is a full house, and are very appreciative. You can see all of them tearing. After the announcement, they come into the crowd to sell tickets for tomorrow's show. Taishuengeki is usually a 30 day event. When the troop comes, they perform for 30 days, each night a different performance (different dance routines, and different story). That's a lot of dedication.After the second half of the dancing portion is done, there is another intermission. Over an hour has passed already from just dance routines. I wonder what the point is for all those performances. An announcement comes on over the P.A. system to turn off all cell phones, cameras, and video cameras. I can understand why they want this from the audience. Since it is a dying art, you don't want someone to come in and record the performance so that they can post it on YouTube for others to watch for free. My opinion is that it is better to watch it in person than on YouTube. During the performance someone is caught video taping the play and is asked to erase everything from the camera. They stay there and watch as you erase all the footage. They are very serious in following the rules.
Although I didn't understand all of the dialog, I got the main idea of the story. I also got the humorous puns put into some scenes. Each play is supposed to be based on actually events. It's like a history lesson on the stage. The stories are part of history that isn't written in the history books in America. These are stories that were handed down from parent to child in the hopes of keeping the past known.
The play was very intense in the end. I can understand why the dancing was in the beginning and not at the end. Also, I don't think the actors would have enough time to get cleaned up to do their dance numbers. It was pretty bloody. Jayson said that they went all out because there was a full house. They did a lot of ad libbing, especially during the whistle blowing scene. That was hilarious.I really got hooked on Taishuengeki even though I was really skeptical about it at first. Jayson said that there aren't many sites (he probably meant English sites), but I found quite a few fan sites. The only problem is that it is all in Japanese. I was trying to figure out if it were possible to invite a troop over to Hawaii to put on some performances. It would take a lot of work. On Maui, there is the Maui Arts and Cultural Center (the MACC) that probably could help out if you are convincing enough. There is also the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui, but I hardly participate in any of the functions. My mom has a connection at the Diamond Resort that probably could make some accommodations. It's so hard since it's so expensive to come to Hawaii, and I don't think that the troop members could pay for their own expenses. (>_<)* Tomorrow is a free day! Time to cut my hair (0_0)
1 comment:
Taishuengeki... how we sometimes underestimate Jayson's judgement. I have to admit we all were wrather bummed when we heard it was mandatory that we experience the 3 hour performance. At the end wehn it was done, I think we all were very appreciative that Jayson had made that decision. You made thecomment on how Japan knows how to hold onto its past while moving forward, and I think this was a prime example. The dances and costumes for the dances had a modern theme, and the story and performance held the old performance style. The group was very succesful in making sure that the tradition of this type of entertainment is preserved, but still appealing to the public. How lucky we are to have experienced that especially in Osaka.
What adds even more to the experience is the story line and the actors who portrayed the story. Also the fact that the show was sold out and the performers were very moved by this. The amount of emotional energy that went into the show is draining even for those of who are just in audience.
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