July 14
This week, we visited Minamiza, the biggest kabuki theater in Kyoto as a class. I also went to Gion to watch a traditional performance of Kyomai dance, Kyogen comedy, Bunraku, Noh, Ikebana, Chanoyu, and Koto play. It was absolutely a feast for eyes and ears. I felt so lucky to be in Kyoto where I can enjoy the most authentic Japanese traditional culture. I also took a personal trip to Uji. The taste of the matcha dessert was needless to say, and I also saw the sculpture of Murasaki Shikibu. Later in the week, we had a class trip to Uji to visit Byodoin.
This week in class we began learning honorific and humble expressions_ modern Japanese is already well-known for its complexity in polite speeches; classical Japanese is yet at another height. It was indeed quite challenging. Speaking of this, the texts we read this week is Genji monogatari, a veritable Yamato text compared to Hojoki or Ujishui. I have read a little bit of Genji before in English, and reading it in Japanese is also very interesting. On Friday, we read some of the poems from Hyakuninissyu. The delicate and sophisticatedly arranged poems are so elegant and touching, here I attach one of my favorite:
花の色は うつりにけりな いたづらに
わが身世にふる ながめせしまに