Noh Pictures Please
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008Hello JapanesePod101.com Community! My name is Ben Jensen, and I’m interning here at the JapanesePod101.com offices in Tokyo. Emily is a pretty busy person, so I get to make a blog appearance today.
About two weeks ago, my girlfriend’s grandmother Mama-chan, who lives here in Tokyo, offered me a ticket to go see Noh. I’ve studied a little about Japanese culture, and I had always heard that Noh is hard to understand—even for Japanese people—and that there is very little action and very few props. Apparently it’s pretty common for audience members to fall asleep. In any case, I thought it would be worth seeing at least once, and it would be a rare opportunity, so I graciously accepted the offer.
Hosho Nogakudo viewed from the outside.
So last Friday, I left work just before 5:00pm and rode the Tokyo Metro to Suidobashi Station. From the station, it was a quick walk to the theater, 宝生能楽堂 (Hosho Nogakudo). The doors opened at 5:30, I went in, and found my seat right away. I asked a lady nearby if she knew whether or not pictures were OK. Side note: when you ask a Japanese person a question, if they don’t know the answer, they’ll likely go find an answer for you. So, I unintentionally sent her on an errand to find out if pictures are allowed during Noh. The answer? No. I was a little disappointed, but I was permitted to take pictures of the stage prior to the performance.
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Posted by emily carsch in Tokyo Intern | 5 Comments »
