Tokyo Day 4

Today we had another late start, though this time Jennay called me when she was up, so I didn't get up and wait.

First we went to Ginza and walked around. My host sister's (Toko's) favorite candy is See's Candy. Before I left she was looking up locations in Japan and found that the only two locations were in Tokyo. Since it's Japanese ettiquette to bring back a gift when you go on a long vacation I figured I should bring this back. It was 35.00 for a small box of chocolates!!! That's more than I've spent on myself for any soulviners! But, it's worth it I suppose, I'm not going on many trips this semester, and I'm still in the "make a good impression" stage.

As we were walking around Ginza we stumbled across a Kabuki theatre. I picked up a pamphlet and discovered they were a very English-friendly theatre. That they not only had times and information in English, but for 400 yen you could get an ear bud and transmitter for the show and listen to commentary/narration in English.

Jennay was a bit hesitant at first, but after looking it over she was excited too. After Ginza we went to Akihabara, the anime center of the world. I walked around, but didn't see anything I really had to have. It's odd but anime DVDs are actually more expensive here than in the U.S. but the Manga is a lot cheaper. I won a stuffed animal anime cat that walks on my first time from a claw machiene, it's kinda cool. I guess that's my soulvinere.

Akihabara is also the "Electric City" the center for all kinds of electronic goods and whatnot. And they had a rare trailer playing for a new video game I'm excited about, I recorded it and it'll go up on youtube when I have time.

We were both really tired today, despite getting rest, we agreed it's because we've been doing so much. So we went back to the hostel and made some food in the kitchen then chilled before going to the theatre.

Since we arrived just on time there was only standing room left. But that was okay with both of us, we only went for one "Act" as they call them, but an act is a full show. It's about an hour long. The ticket was only 800 yen, so even combined with the english translation ear-bud it was only 1200 yen for a Kabuki night out.

The theatre was AMAZING, I could go watch it many times over. It was funny, intense, and beautiful, I've never seen anything like it. Mom, Dad, everyone, when you all come over we should go see an act in the theatre. You can get a seat for 2500 yen in the back, but I actually think it was easier to see standing.

I came home and decided to look up Bunraku theatre, the puppet theatre, and found that there's a national theatre for Bunraku in Osaka with the Ear buds too, and they also do Kabuki. If the prices are as reasonable there I could see myself going to bunraku or kabuki once or twice a month.

I'm really tired now, so this is a bit short. Tomorrow we're going out to Shinjuku to walk around a bit, then meeting up with Jennay's friend who's pro with the trains to get on the Shinkansen. I should be back in Osaka tomorrow night about 9:00pm my time, and home by about 10:00pm. Meaning after I shower and visit with my family for a bit I should be skype available by about 11:00pm if anyone's interested send me a mail.

Love you all! Kabuki is awesome! Night!