DGE Ron & Cindy Sekkel's Travel Log

Today we had a lengthy breakfast with PDG Hal Darcey from Hawaii and his wonderful wife Lei. We had a wonderfully pleasant time and talked about Rotary as well as other topics. Our breakfast finally ended around 1:30 PM. They had to do their final packing and I had to do some email writing and responding. Cindy decided to go around and explore on her own.

Cindy and I decided that this would be the night when we would experience Kabuki. We figured out how to get to the Kabuki-Za with the Subway. We got in line early so that we could get in to watch one of the acts in the standing room only section. We got the English translator machine so that we could get an explanation as it was occurring. Having that translating machine was extremely valuable. I do not know that I could say that I now understand Kabuki but at least I understand more than I did.

Many of you probably know that all of the parts in this art form are played by men. It almost feels like a baseball game (not quite) when the audience occasionally yells out the name of one of the stars. These are appreciative shouts by members of the audience and timed to the actors lines, poses, entrances, etc. For those of you who know more about this art form we watched Yoshino Yama. We were able to see Living National Treasure Kikugoro as Tadanobu , with his son, the popular young actor Kikunosuke, playing the beautiful Shizuka.

We avoided the rain and took the subway back to Ueno station where we found a place to have dinner. We then returned to the hotel to relax.

Saying Goodbye from the Sofitel Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.

See you tomorrow on the web site.

Ron and Cindy Sekkel

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