The rest of last weekend, etc.

Wow, it's Thursday night already???  This week's gone fast.  (The two kanji quizzes and then the test in Japanese class over the last 4 days may have had something to do with time magically disappearing.)  Anyways!

So I talked about last Sunday already (when we went to go see Takarazuka).  I did NOT talk about last Saturday yet.  I went to hang out with people and be social!  A whole bunch of people--I think there were close to 20 of us in the end, with 3 or 4 of those people being Japanese and the rest being AKP or other exchange students--went to Arashiyama again.  I'd been with my host family already, but we went to different places mostly and it was really fun to hang out.  Basically, we went for a walk through the temple-heavy area and bamboo forest, then sat by the river to eat lunch.  And then we went to Monkey Park.  Yes, that's really the name of the place.  Yes, there's a reason for the name--the monkeys, they are everywhere!  It's at the top of a mountain and takes 500 yen admittance fee (about $6 at current exchange rate, maybe?) and it involves seeing monkeys up close (including baby monkeys playing together and rock-banging musician monkeys) and also some really amazing views of Kyoto from above.  It was worth the money for sure, especially when a monkey stole Angel's water bottle and proceeded to sit on it and bite it until it proved inedible.  Then it threw the thing down the mountain.  We had to go back down the stairs to get it.  XD  That was my favorite monkey, I think. 

Then, most of the big group of people went off somewhere to have other lives, and 7 of us went to eat an expensive but delicious and FUN dinner at the Ninja Restaurant.  Also appropriately named.  The whole thing starts when you show up at the front gate; a whatever-you-call-the-front-standing-person in a ninja costume checks your reservation, then summons another ninja to lead you through the caves to your table.  And I do mean caves; the whole thing is set up to look underground-ish, like you're actually in a series of rock caves.  Your table is in your own private little room (it's not uncommon in Japanese restaurants to use screens and barriers to create private spaces, but this was actually it's own little cave!).  We got a course meal, which started with shuriken crackers and foie gras spread stuff, and continued through everything from pork (delicious) to chirashi zushi (raw fish with rice and mixed stuff, also delicious) to essentially deep-fried cheese with tomato and basil (also delicious) to black sesame ice cream for dessert (you should be seeing a theme in these little asides).  Then, while we were eating dessert, another ninja shows up to do some 'ninjutsu' (aka magic tricks) for us!  He was very good at the sleight of hand thing.  Mom, remember that time at the spy restaurant that you signed a card and the guy did tricks with it?  He did that, and I now have a signed card too as a souvenir.  He even had a little plastic envelope for it!  Then, to leave, you have to escape out through the caves again.  It was a lot of fun, they did the theme really well without it going cheesy, and the food was absolutely delicious and extremely plentiful.  

This weekend will be exciting as well.  We have what is essentially a school trip: the AKP program is going on a tour of Hyogo prefecture, including making our own soba somewhere for lunch tomorrow, staying at Kinosaki tomorrow night (ONSEN), and going to Amanohashi and then Kobe on Saturday before getting home late Saturday night.  It should be a lot of fun, and I will bring camera.  (This is honestly about all I know about this trip XD Will give more details when I get back!) 

Finally: Pictures!

Wow busy weekend!!

So busy that I'm actually going to split it into two posts--one now, and one later in the week when I have the pictures from it uploaded.  Right now I am going to talk about Takarazuka.

Takarazuka, as a brief introduction, is often compared to Broadway.  It's musical theater, lots of dancing and singing and all that, and they do all sorts of stories and styles within it.  The big thing is, every single person on stage is female.  They start training by getting into a very selective elite training academy for high school (which really means they've been training since forever, because otherwise how would you be good enough to get into a really incredibly selective academy??  From what I hear, this place makes the Ivy league look doable).  While training, they basically take one of two paths--musumeyaku, girl roles, or otokoyaku, boy roles.  They learn one or the other pretty much exclusively, and you can see the difference between the styles on stage.  At some point they join one of the five different troupes and put on plays with their troupe.  They're very good.

Now the theater.  This is one of two theaters in which Takarazuka is performed.  (The other is in Tokyo.)  It's a normal stage, but with a bridge around the outer edge of the orchestra pit that acts as an extension of the stage, and also two bridges that go out into the audience along the sides, which seem to serve as both part of the stage and entry/exit points.  There are crazy sets and a revolving floor and raising and lowering platforms and all sorts of lights everywhere and disco balls and crazy special effects considering it's a live performance. 

The specific play we saw was essentially "The Man in the Iron Mask".  Set in France during the reign of Louis XIV, it involves the Three Musketeers running around, wreaking havoc, and switching the king with his much nicer identical twin Philip.  Also some romance in there, some fight scenes, and some rather crazy interludes.

For example, the play started with a narrator introducing the era and explaining the background.  Only he got it wrong the first couple times.  He introduced Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution....then Joan of Arc....then a couple more historical figures....all of whom told him he wasn't in the right time....and then finally got to the right thing.  XD  Then it proceeded to be serious for a while, mostly showing how King Louis was a womanizing jerk--except this involved elaborate dances with dresses that could stand on their own so the women could dance out of them, not to mention a dramatic sword fight involving at least 20-25 people in a cafe to introduce the Three Musketeers.  Another interlude scene was set in a jail.  I'm pretty sure it was supposed to show what a cruel government Louis had running, but honestly, by the time it suddenly started playing the 'Ghostbusters' theme song halfway through', it was already clear it was a comedic scene.  Another scene involved a woman hanging from the ceiling, literally wearing a giant disco ball as a skirt as she sang. 

The show itself was really cool.  They did everything from on-stage costume shifts to shadow puppets to court dances to dramatic death scenes to marriage proposals to completely changing outfits in the 5 seconds they were off stage.  And this was only the first hour and a half!

The play basically finished in the first half of the show.  Then there was intermission.  After that, a really amazing, almost variety show-like work was performed.  It was literally a dozen dance scenes, each with its own costumes and plot, all very loosely based around the theme of 'American'.  (It was called Royal Straight Flush and I think poker is associated with America here.)  One was a Miss World contest, another basically acting out the Vietnam War (hippies and all), another essentially West Side Story set in the Old West, another about Las Vegas, another literally people taking on the roles of the 10-Jack-Queen-King-Ace of Spades, another full of people dressed as indians dancing around.  Despite some stereotyping and really interesting attempts at singing in English, it was incredibly fun to watch.  The shifting scenes, incredible costumes (HOW MANY SEQUINS CAN YOU PUT ON ONE COAT), fifty people dancing in perfectly choreographed unison, singing, stylized battles, stylized romances, and just general over-the-top-ness is more than I can put into words.

And then the Grand Finale came.  If I'd thought the rest was crazy, this was even more so.  There were probably close to 100 people on stage--the whole troupe--all wearing crazy sequined costumes and dancing around.  The people who had played main roles were wearing essentially peacock tails (in shape, not color--the colors were black and white) made out of dyed ostrich feathers, with sparkly strands mixed in, that stuck up higher than their heads and as wide as their armspans.  There were bows, and dancing, and more bows, and swirling spotlights, and colorful lights all over, and more dancing, and finally the main peoples' bows.  They had some of the troupe dancing in the aisles by the audience for a while.  It was over-the-top insanely amazing.  Like, really mind-blowing. 

This was my Sunday afternoon, guys.