sechan19 | Honto ni kando shimashita.

Today was one of those incredible days that will never be forgotten.

I attended the culture class portion of the program today, once again lectured by Japan's first baseball player, Mr. Yagino Koji. In preparation for the Kabuki play we were set to attend, Mr. Yagino gave an overview of the three prominent forms of Japanese theater: Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku. Japanese theater is a favorite subject of mine, and given my coursework in Japanese literature of the court and pre-modern periods I know a fair bit about the subject. Consequently, I spent some of the lecture contributing information - much to Mr. Yagino's delight. Despite speaking perfectly lovely English, Mr. Yagino feels his speaking abilities to be terrible and relished the opportunity to have a native speaker convey core concepts to the rest of the class.

At the end of class, I bowed profusely to Mr. Yagino and thanked him heartily. I was really delighted with this elderly gentleman, and so honored to have met him and been able to benefit from a small portion of his knowledge and experience. But I was in for a surprise. After I had thanked him, Mr. Yagino presented me with a book on the current Kabuki actors, saying that in all his years of teaching I was the most knowledgeable student of Japanese culture that he'd ever encountered.

In my amazement - and delight - I could only blush, bow some more, and murmur in my broken Japanese that I was truly surprised (honto ni bikuri shimashita ga) and deeply moved (kando shimashita). I shook his hand and told him that it had been my honor. On Monday I'm going to speak with Tanaka-san about the possibility of getting a gift to Mr. Yagino. I'd like to thank him once again, and appropriately, for his tremendous kindness to me.

I'll post my experience at the Kabuki theater separately.