Sunday, March 24, 2024

When we went for breakfast at 8:30 this morning it was quite busy which is odd on a Sunday. We were very much looking forward to our trip to the Kabuki theatre today. I have seen Kabuki in the UK in previous years but never seen it performed in Japan.

Kabuki-za is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel and it was already quite busy when we arrived with people queuing for tickets. Ticket pick up was in the basement so we went down the escalator, which is also used for the subway station here, to a large basement which was filled with an assortment of stalls. At the bottom of the escalator they were doing a huge business in various bento boxes as people lined up for their interval snack/meal. At the far end of the room there was even a small 7-11 convenience store which we visited to see if we could find something to take in with us to drink though Mel did have her water bottle with her.

One machine had a glass box on top with a small shrine at the back and a geisha doll standing in front of it with a tray. Mel put in two 100 yen coins and the doll sprung to life, turning around and going into the shrine which promptly closed it’s doors. A few seconds later the doll returned with a small scroll on her tray which she promptly dumped into a trough at the front of the box which deposited into a slot on the outside of the machine - A fortune! It was another good fortune for her…

The stalls were selling a variety of things including traditional clothing, jewellery, books, snacks, art, dolls, toys, etc.

This is a modern city and so they had an Instagram-worthy “photo stop” which featured a backdrop of cats sitting in the theatre (of course) along with the date and time of the performance (well, this evening’s performance but never mind).

We collected our tickets along with an English audio guide - A small electronic gadget with small earphones that provided us with English commentary throughout the performance which is much more convenient than surtitles and provides much more than simple translation as it put what we saw in the performance into context.

Returning to the ground floor we joined the large queue to enter into the minimalist modern auditorium decorated largely in a golden yellow colour. The Our seats were at the back of the stalls (ground floor) of the large auditorium which had two balconies above us and seats along the sides as well. The stage is not very tall but very wide with a small walking platform offset from the centre of the stage, extending into the auditorium which was used by a few of the performers.

I chose a matinee performance because it had three different, short, performances in three different styles (the evening had only two performances and was much longer - probably more for the real Kabuki fans; see https://www.kabukiweb.net/theatres/kabukiza/kabukiza_march_2024/ for program details). First up was a historical play (1 hour and 24 minutes) “Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami: Trakoya” ('The Village School' from 'Sugawara's Secrets of Calligraphy') which we quite enjoyed with amazing costumes, with many children and lots going on. This was followed by a 35 minute interval during which most people around us dug into the bento boxes they had picked up before coming into the show. To be honest, before coming I was not sure we were allowed to eat in the auditorium but now I know. I picked up a rather nice, if large, program (yes, with a bit of English in it as well) while Mel went to the coffee shop next door for drinks returning with a coffee for herself and a fruit drink for me. The second performance was dance (28 minutes) “Keisei Dojoji” ('The Courtesan at Dōjōji Temple') which we also enjoyed, though a bit slow in parts it really showed off the costumes and the talent of the performers. This was followed by another shorter interval of 20 minutes which I used to quickly run out to pick up one of the last remaining bento boxes being sold from a small stall in the lobby. Choice was a bit limited but the one I picked up had a variety of vegetables, tempura, a prawn and some egg along with a bit of rice.

Quite tasty really though we only had a few minutes to eat before the final performance began which was a “modern play” in three parts (1 hour and 33 minutes) “Genroku Chūshingura: Ohama Goten Tsunatoyo-Kyo” ('Lord Tsunatoyo at his Ohama Estate' from 'The Loyal 47 Rōnin of the Genroku Era'). The second act was quite talky, long and tedious as the actors did not move about much but the other parts were interesting. The audio guide turned out to work very well though it was often a bit behind in explaining what was going on.

We were one of the last ones to leave, taking pictures of the large interior then returning our audio guides to the stewards in the lobby.

As it was only 3:30 pm I suggested a trip to “Akihabara Electric Town” which is always worth a visit with its bright lights and unusual shops - What many people picture Tokyo to be. Conveniently, the Kabuki-za station was on the Hibiya subway line that took us directly to Akihabara.

I had earlier figured out a destination that I knew Mel would love so Mr. Google led the way as we walked along the streets, passing a fire station which had its gleaming vehicles out for everyone to admire, then turning a corner into a busy street and finding our destination on the second floor of a building - “Cat Café MoCHA Akihabara Store” (https://catmocha.jp/en/shop/akihabara/). Mel has never been to a cat café before so where better to go than in Tokyo? I knew she would love it.

The small lift took us up the second floor which was crowded with people queuing to enter the café. There were a few rules that we had to follow such as no (human) food, we had to use a machine that exchanged our shoes for slippers to wear during our stay, we had to store our bags and jackets in free lockers, and there was no grabbing the cats. It was 2,000 yen an hour which included unlimited drinks from several machines in the lobby (including Coke though all served in quite small disposable cups…).

Of course, they were also selling cat treats you could give to the animals including a small frozen popsicle thing that they seemed to adore. Mel put a 100 yen coin into a machine to get a packet of dried treats which she fed to several new friends.

The small café had two rooms at the front which were crammed with furry beasts and lots of climbing frames to keep the rather patient and forgiving cats interested (and allow them to hide if they wanted to) including several above head height. There were seats all around with people watching the action. The 24 cats (no I did not count, there was a poster on the wall with their pictures and names) seemed to very much enjoy the attention with no trace of any hissing while we were there.

The small room at the back with green flooring had an assortment of manga (Japanese graphic novels), a number of video game machines and was meant for lounging on the floor with no furniture in sight. There is a day rate for those that wanted to come and spend time with the animals, reading and playing games. With the free Wi-Fi (and drinks) I can see this might be appealing to people.

We were there for just under an hour (52 minutes for a total of 4,070 yen for the two of us) before retrieving our shoes and jackets then returning to the street where it was starting to get dark so the lights of the many colourful signs were starting to be turned on. When we crossed to the other side of the street for me to visit a manga/anime shop we noticed that a couple of buildings over from the cat café there was a dog café as well.

I wanted to visit a video arcade so we went into “Game Panic” which turned out to be a tall 9-story building with tiny floors each jammed with video games, mostly networked for group play and requiring the use of a special card. For old timers like me they had none of the classic games I was looking for.

As it was getting near dinner time we returned to the Akihabara subway station to visit one of my favourite stores in Tokyo “Yodobashi Akiba” which consists of a 7 floor department store selling things like appliances, homeware, bicycles, videos, and toys.

The 8th floor is full of restaurants and the 9th is the “golf floor” (golf equipment, driving range and, of course, a batting cage for baseball fans). Each floor is absolutely massive and an assault on the senses with colourful signs, people and noises coming from everywhere.

Mel needed a toilet and we were hungry so we immediately went up the escalators (the best way to take in the spectacle waiting on each floor) to the 8th floor. I was looking for a rather nice “tonkatsu” (deep fried pork cutlet) restaurant I had visited with my mother a few years ago but it was no longer there though we visited another “tonkatsu” place “Tonkatsu Wado” that was there instead.

The small restaurant was jammed with small booths where diners sat side by side. We were shown a table immediately after arriving and were given the colourful menu to pick from. Mel chose the standard pork tonkatsu while I chose the “sakuru” special (1,580 yen) which consisted of a deep fried prawn with two deep fried creamy pork croquettes. Each of our dishes came with a bowl of rice, a shredded cabbage salad (with a delicious dressing in a serving cup on the table) and soup along with a small bowl of pickles and a dipping sauce. Critically there was a large shallow dish in which you poured the tonkatsu sauce and added crushed sesame seeds (sadly, these were pre-ground instead of letting us grind them fresh ourselves). This was used for dipping your tonkatsu fritters.

The meal was generally delicious. My creamy croquettes were a bit odd in texture and flavour - a sweet/savoury thing - but otherwise quite tasty.

After our meal we walked around looking at what else was on offer and though already full we decided to stop at “The French Toast Café” (https://www.french-toast-factory.jp/) which was crowded with amazing desserts: In addition to French toast they also served pancakes that are more like souffles than anything else - Tall cylinders of light, eggy, toast goodness. We were shown to a small table in the crammed restaurant and had to order online then wait about half an hour for our food to arrive.

We had picked the “FTF Sisters” (sampler) special which consisted of a slice of French (“plenty”) toast and two heavenly pancake towers topped with cream, fresh blueberries, strawberries and bananas (1,350 yen plus 135 yen “consumption tax”). Absolutely delicious - So light they melted in the mouth.

Before leaving we stopped to watch the chef preparing them on a grill as he placed large blobs of the light batter on the grill, waited for them to brown, then turned and finally steamed them by covering them with a metal box.

On the game floor we picked up two Studio Ghibli puzzles (Ghibli is a Japanese film studio that has produced some of the most amazing animated films over the past 30 or so years) then wandered around just looking at what was on offer including a large number of Japanese animation figurines, capsule machines, TVs (watched one amazing screen playing “The Greatest Showman”, which we love), amazing looking (but expensive) bicycles, phone cases (sadly only for the iPhone it seems, Mel and I both have Samsung)…

Leaving the department store we spent some time walking around and taking in the massive, colourful advertising signs before looking for the entrance to the subway station we needed, ending up walking quite a ways out of our way though we did see some interesting things including a vending machine selling cakes (!). Once in the station Mel made use of the facilities before we took the subway back to the hotel.

After the semi-success we had with the “washing machine robot” in our room last night tonight we had resolved to do a few loads of laundry. There are two small washing machines that, amazingly, include washing soap so you just put your clothing and coins into the machine and wait 30 minutes (500 yen). I was hesitant about leaving our clothes in the machine while they washed but it locked itself as soon as the cycle started so I returned to our room to wait. There are also two driers above the washing machines that cost 300 yen for 20 minutes (we had to do three cycles before our clothes were dry).

>> Next: Day 10