Noh, noh, Nanette

Everyone has heard of Kabuki theater, but until this trip I was unware of Noh theater.  I don't know enough obout eiher one to explain the difference, but last night Benjamin took us to a theater for a Noh performance that was most interesting.  There was lots of weird precussion and potato pipe music, along with kimono clad actors whose chanting came from deep within their diaphrams.  One fellow had on a wacky mask outfit as well (he portrayed a fox that helped a backsmith forge a sword for the emperor.) It was quite a spectacle and their was a question and answer session afterwards.

Today we went to the Senbon Tori Shinto shrine far to the south of here that features a thousand gates and a trek up a mountainside that would have taken over two hours to complete had we undertaken it.As it was, we turned around about one third of the way up, having enjoyed all the spiritual enlightenment we could stand. At the base of that temple were any number of food vendors serving up some of the strangest food I have ever seen and some that was strangely familiar.

My health has been quite poor this trip with a variety of symptoms I needn't get into here.  Added to these physical maladies are my worries over the return trip, which due to the airport slowdown in the states could become quite complicated.  This trip has taken quite a bit out of me, overall, and I question if I will be capable or willing to ever undertake another one.