Long Update

Long Update

Sorry that it's been almost one month since I updated about my experiences. I've been really busy at work and with hippo friends. But now that things have slowed down for a moment at work, I want to take the opportunity to fill you all in on some of this month's highlighted events.

Waka Weekends:
Waka-Chan (my Hippo Fellow) has made a tremendous effort to welcome me to Japan. 2 weekends in a row, she invited me to do some really fun things. The first weekend of October, she invited me and my host mom to go to a Kabuki performance with her.
he performance was held in the famous Kabuki Za theater tucked in the middle of the bustling streets of Ginza. It was sooo awesome! I love everything about kabuki but if you don:t know what that is..here's a brief run down.


Kabuki is a traditional Japanese theater where the actors are extravagantly dressed, decorated and painted (make up) and preform stories in 3 different genres...historic, domestic, and dance. The historical stories usually involve ...suprise..historical events but usually involves some sort of romance to stir things up a bit. Domestic plays are usually about peasants, robbers, lovers or something of the like..think Edo Soap Opera. ("I would rather die by your sword than have you leave for ever. kill me now if you never plan on returning" kind of thing) Dance performances are still a narrative but it involves more symbolism, the use of song and set and costume change/transformation. When I went on Sunday I saw the most famous dance plays that involve the actor to wear the costume of a Buddhist lion deity (long read hair) that he swings around in circles in the air for like 5 minutes. its really long hair so would take a lot of skill.

all roles are played by men, which isn't too unusual for traditional drama (the Greeks and even Shakespeare had male only actors) but when you watch kabuki, the women characters really seem like women. each movement is incredibly delicate, sophisticated, and sometimes sensual creating an illusion that you are watching a woman, when in fact that "woman" in real life is an old man who is called a woman specialist. (or something like that) The actors speak in extravagant voices with incredibly dramatic pauses and verses making each moment epic. If you are interested, you can check out the play bill in English online at ( http://www.kabuki-za.co.jp/english/program.html ) Scroll down to the evening performance, that:s the one I saw. I was also lucky enough to see the famous Tomosoboro-san perform. He's really famous so it was such a treat!!


The next week, Waka chan invited me to join her, her husband and friends in a trip North of Tokyo to Karuizawa. It:s a very popular vacation destination since the area is incrediblymountainous, covered in beautifully colored trees (this time of year), hot springs (onsen) and not a subway train or sky scraper to be seen. I was so glad that she invited me to catch some fresh air and escape the concrete jungle of Tokyo.

On the way there, I read a book since it was over a 2 hour drive to get there. When we got into Karuizawa, two other couples (close friends of waka) and the 3 of us went grocery shopping at a large super market even though it was the same size as a stop and shop or hannaford, that's considered huge in Japan. Our next stop was to Asama yama (asamamountain) park. I found myself feeling as though I had been temporarily transported back into Maine/NH because for as far as I could see were mountains covered in colorful trees, blue skies and volcanic rock (resembling the rocky forests of Maine) All the rocks were covered in several varieties of moss and lichen (including glowing moss..soo cool) We went on an hour long walk through the windy mountain trail before heading to Waka's vacation apartment.
At 14 stories tall, the resort apartment was one of the only buildings that could be seen across the mountainous landscape. the room was tiny but fully loaded with 2 couches/beds, tatami room (with room for 3 futons) a kitchen, toilet & shower/bath rooms, and a patio. The building also had a hot spring bath in the basement and observation deck on top. The first night there we enjoyed an enormous diner. I was pretty tired from the journey, the fresh air and trying to take in all the Japanese. After diner, Waka chan and I went to the onsen which I followed up with a few minutes in the sauna.

I stayed up that night reading my book until midnight thinking I'd be able to sleep in until at least 7:30. But to my surprise, Waka chan threw the lights on at 6:30am with an enthusiastic "OKITERU JESS!! OHAAIIOO!" (Wake Up Jess! Good Morning!) After tossing and grumbling for about 20 minutes I finally woke up to a huge breakfast spread.
After eating, a few of us went to go check out the observation deck. The morning fog and clouds were still lingering but within 2 minutes we watched as it miraculously cleared to reveal an awe inspiring view of Asama Mt. This stoic mountain stood strong in the panorama, steaming forth clouds of smoke resembling a gun after firing a bullet.

We got in the car soon after and drove to a near by town. It was a picturesque mountain side town with its apparent claim to fame situated at its center: a sulfur hot spring.
If you could put the overwhelming stench of rotten eggs that permeated the whole town, it was quite charming and wonderful. The color of the rocks affected by the sulfur were a beautiful aqua emerald green color. After taking pictures in front of the spring we walked the streets. This humble town turned tourist spot sold various Japanese goods ranging from lucky cats, clothes, and food. One store was cooking dumplings out side the store and had merchants greeting the passerbyers with a hot cup of green tea and a free sample of their dumplings. I also noticed a man sitting on the side of the road selling various herbs, spices and small vegetables on a rug.

It was a wonderful afternoon and to top it all off, Waka chan and I took a quick dip in the local onsen. This time, instead of feeling like a hotel jacuzzi, this onsen was an outdoor onsenmuch like the one i experienced 2 years ago, except way bigger. we stayed int he onsen for about 30 minutes (which is actually considered quite a long time. I had started to get dizzy by the time we left) We finished our time in the town at a ramen shop before heading back to the apartment. We left Karuizawa around 4 and I didn't get back to my house until 8 (since we stopped at a rest stop restaurant and had tempura)

Hippo Friends:

I've also had the opportunity to share some fun experiences with other hippo friends. Last weekend I had two events worth mentioning (briefly since this post is so long already) I went to visit a Japanese Printmakers house and was able to see his etchings. I went with a couple other hippo friends who are my age, so it was a good way to break the ice with them. Thefollowing day I went to the Double Dutch Delight Tokyo, which was the National Finals for Double dutch. One of my hippo friends was on a team that made it to the finals so we were able to watch him perform. It was soo cool! We had front row seats to witness his team getting 3rd place, which means they get to go to NYC in December for the world finals (at the Apollo theater!) totemo kakkuiiii!


I'm going to my first cultural project class (Moku Hanga or Japanese woodcut printmaking) this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.

Look forward to my next post which will be about the progress on my cultural project!

thanks for reading!

ja ne!

-Kinoko Chan
Jess Robinson