de-struct-ion 一言の間違い

The tea house has been very quiet now that it is two weeks until the new year. So last night Oka-san suggested Reiko and I should go to the Kabuki together. Reiko of course jumped at the chance since she is in love with Kabuki and would probably join the men in egging on the boy actors if she was sure it wouldn’t get back to Oka-san somehow.

We were joined by some of Reiko’s friends from outside Gion. I had never met them and didn’t speak much because I was in a contemplative mood. After the show they were talking about the plot and one of them said something like “yes, our life is all in the hands of the Gods.” What a ridiculous comment after seeing what we just saw, making everything instantly trite and “concluded”! He must’ve been thinking about the hero’s tragic sickness and ultimate death. But it was really about how he dealt with it, his struggles, his living through it, and it was so personal I felt I could cut through the melancholy air that gradually pervaded the theatre. I never forgave him for that little piece of truism so I became even more withdrawn.

But what annoyed me the most was this “couple” who sat before us. They were a curious sight to behold in the first place, a very big gaijin and a tiny woman in an oversized kimono that was fashioned after a maiko’s in its brilliant colour and the way in which her obi was tied. She was constantly looking for her handkerchief in her sleeve because she was sniffling throughout the show with her wrist making flourishes (wiping tears off presumably), but she made such a racket every time because the material of her kimono probably isn’t silk.

And the things she dared to say! Her companion told her a bawdy joke when everyone was getting seated and she retorted that it wasn’t funny but offensive and he should never tell the same joke ever again to anyone. No restraint, no art whatsoever. That’s when I became sure she wasn’t a real geisha, let alone a maiko! Reiko thought she was probably a common prostitute from Pontocho and I agree.

Perhaps I judge too harshly and I hope Reiko’s friends do not think I was haughty because I didn’t feel like talking to them. But what are we but a construction of what we say and do? I’m sure I won’t live in a house I don’t like without renovating it. And sometimes, I just don’t care enough.