Noh

Got up late Saturday morning to a grey, rainy day in Fukuoka. The weather was conducive to nothing, but I was determined to get out and see a couple of famous temples in Fukuoka, since I'd gone all that way. Dressed, checked out of the hotel, and after leaving my bags with reception, headed out for a wet walk down the road the Tocho and Shofuku temples.

The first is known for having the largest, wooden statue of the Buddha in Japan, but photographs weren't permitted. It was big. It was wooden. And its face strangely resembled that of our waitress from dinner the night before. Shofuku was much older (originally 11th C), and Zen (note the raked gravel), but the public weren't permitted into the central compound, so all I could do was take a shot from the gate. All in all, both were kind of disappointing.

Collected my bags, trudged over to Hakata station and killed time before my bus by shopping for a couple of Japanese CDs to take home as souvenirs. One purchase was the latest by a group called Doping Panda: they sing mainly in crippled English, but their sound is somehow very Japanese. Finally boarded a one-o'clock bus, and slept almost the whole, wet way back to Kumamoto.

That afternoon, I was to go over to the stage where I used to learn Noh and, for old-times' sake, watch a practice. The walk over there from Zac's took almost the same route that I used to walk when I lived in Kumamoto, and I couldn't help wondering to myself how many hundreds of times I'd walked that route in the past when going to practice. Felt like I'd never left.

It was about a three-hour session, during which I was able to join in some of the choral parts and, to my surprise, at the end Tsuiji-sensei invited me to dance. I had a crack at Yashima, which I'd last done over a year ago in St Catherines, and was able (with guidance from sensei) to get through it all.

Afterwards most of us piled into cars and drove up Mt Kimpo to sensei's house for one of his wife's legendary feasts. I've been up there enough times that it now feels like going to a surrogate home: less like a visitor, and more like one of the family.

At about eleven we wrapped things up, and I got a lift downtown where I made my way to Sanctuary - a local club popular with the foreign crowd (now housed in the building that used to house the Jail - another club) and had a drink or two while waiting for Zac to get off work at 01.30. When he finally did, we spent the rest of the night there, drinking more than we needed to, chatting up everything with long hair, and stumbling home at about 06.00. It was kind of fun to be recognised by the owner (Marcas and I used to spin CDs for him at his club BITD) and his son...