I recently attended my first Japanese theatrical production at the Tokyo Arts Theatre (東京芸術劇場) in Ikebukuro (池袋).  I saw the play, Minami he (南へ) by Hideki Noda (野田秀樹).

When I was a teacher at an infamous English conversation school (I’ll let you take a guess at that one), Mr. Noda was my student a couple times.  He was a pretty interesting guy, had pretty good English and very open-minded.  So I was excited to see and support such a creative mind in Japan.  Despite the high price (when I say high, I mean HIGH) and my lack of Japanese comprehension (and I mean I didn’t understand anything about the plot of the story – although my Japanese friend didn’t either… ), I really enjoyed myself.  It felt so good to be in an atmosphere of creativity and surrounded by the aura of the arts.  It was also a relief to see Japanese people, a people fairly known for their robotic disposition, being so theatrical.

I also got to see two of the handful of famous people I know in Japan, Satoshi Tsumabuki and Yuu Aoi.  I LOVE YUU AOI and she didn’t disappoint.  Both of them have the greatest smiles and like them I walked out with a huge smile, blissfully ignorant to the story of the play but blissfully pleased by the experience.