Comments on: Gion Corner: The Simplicity of Japanese Musical Art

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 06:04:27 +0000

In reply to Anita. Well, if I had thought to take a look at the flyer they handed me as I went in, I would have had a bit of a clue!

By: Anita

Anita — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 05:23:56 +0000

Well, it sounds as though you had an introduction to the authentic art forms…good in that a visitor gets an overview, less good that some of them simply cannot be understood without an interpreter. I would have had problems with the comedy bits for sure, without any guidance into what the performers were up to!

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 06:42:40 +0000

In reply to Kay Dougherty. There was certainly some laughter and I would guess some people got pretty sleepy, especially during the flower arranging. The comic play had enough slapstick elements in it to keep me entertained. As far as I could tell, the only adaptation they did was providing an English information leaflet and the introductions before each performance in English about that particular art form.

By: Kay Dougherty

Kay Dougherty — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 15:11:04 +0000

Well you certainly saw a lot of art forms in one place but I’m afraid I would have either fallen asleep or giggled during a few of them! A comic play in a different culture and language would be way too open to misinterpretation. On the plus side it seems as if it may have been fairly authentic as it doesn’t appear that they did anything to adapt it to non-Japanese audiences. I haven’t been to Japan so this is all quite curios to me..

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 09:43:49 +0000

In reply to Kristin Henning. I felt like I was getting something real, and not just put on for tourists. But it's hard to judge on your own!

By: Kristin Henning

Kristin Henning — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 06:13:35 +0000

I was lucky to study some traditional dance when we had a visiting Japanese theater director in college. How fun to see a collection of arts presented together. No worries if there were slight adaptations and shortcuts: you were getting the essence of it!

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 05:43:48 +0000

In reply to Shobha. Oh dear, that could really spoil it! Yes, we had theater seats. The flower arranging, fortunately, was done very quickly and rather robotically, backed by some harp music. Dull, but mercifully short. As for the tea ceremony, that happened as we were filing in, but I would have liked to actually have some of the tea! I was one of the last to arrive, and two people had already been designated to receive the tea. I don't know if they paid extra or were chosen.

By: Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 05:37:52 +0000

In reply to Su Yuen. No, I didn't. I was trying to keep to a very small budget so food tourism wasn't my focus. I had some really tasty street food in Japan, but not in Gion, which is a tourist area and very expensive! Kaiseki would have been WAY outside my budget!

By: Su Yuen

Su Yuen — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 22:57:52 +0000

Did you get to try the kaiseki meals in Kyoto? Kyoto is the birth place of the traditional Kaiseki style of cooking and Gion has the best Kaiseki food ever 😀

By: Shobha

Shobha — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 19:06:26 +0000

I did 2 years of Japanese flower arranging! I didn’t realise it was a spectator sport either. Suddenly I feel very sporty!! I’ve only ever seen the Tea Ceremony from the above list. I’m pretty sure it’s the same everywhere. At least this place you probably had proper Western-style seats. The one I saw you were kneeling on the tatami and all I could think was it was soooo slow and my knees were falling asleep. I missed most of the ceremony stressing over the pins and needles in my knees!