Kyoto Journal from 2002

After dinner with the Matsunagas last night, I went back and read through the journal I kept when I was studying in Kyoto on 2002 (they weren’t called blogs back then, damn whippersnappers). Definitely takes me back, very natsukashii. Here’s one of my favorite bits:

“On Wednesday I attended Noh theatre performance courtesy of the Stanford Center. Here’s a sample of what Noh consists of: “yoooooh! hoh! yoooooooh! hoh!” (two drums are beaten out of sync and a flute shrieks) (a grizzled old man in a ridiculously ornate costume sits perfectly still) (two masked and costumed actors silently walk around in circles around each other) (a group of 13 kimono-clad men silently pick up fans, hold them for a moment, then put them back down) “yoooooooooh!”. Translation into English: “I whom none ask after, ever, rejoin a world gone long ago, where, brine-drenched, I learn no lesson but suffer on in bitterness of heart.” Unfortunately, I was too captivated by the novelty of the situation to engage in a widely enjoyed Japanese pastime, sleeping during Noh…”