00:00
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast!
I see you've noticed that I did not use my remote control to turn on the video version.
Yeah.
To turn on the start recording.
You're holding that switch?
I'm holding my switch and I didn't use it.
Tap the screen.
Yes, I noticed that too.
I noticed that too.
I'm happy.
Before you mentioned it, I thought I would just say it myself so that it wouldn't hurt.
Okay.
I did that.
Yes, I did that.
You did, right?
Yes, I did.
Yes, I did.
So, mate.
We met.
Yes.
Tokuro-san.
Yes.
That's who we just met.
We're at the Amazon studio.
Yeah.
Once in a blue moon, or like a guest would come in.
Yeah.
Right?
To record something on the studio.
Yeah, on different floors.
Different floor.
And like the manager of the studio would be like, "Hey, why don't you guys collab, like meet?"
Yeah.
And there you go.
We met her.
Yep.
And it was such a lovely, lovely acquaintance.
True.
It's a Kyogen-shi?
Yes.
Kyogen-shi-san?
Kyogen-shi-san?
Yeah, Kyogen-shi-san.
Right.
Do you know Kyogen?
No, I've never seen it.
That's a traditional Japanese, oh, let's say comedy show.
So, it's a comedy show.
She said Kigeki.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right?
So, it's like a happy story.
Yeah.
Is how I'm understanding it.
It's not necessarily like a happy story, but it's a funny story.
Okay.
Yeah?
Got it.
You know, sometimes, you know, protagonists make some errors, mistakes.
Oh, okay, got it, got it.
It's a funny story.
Oh.
It's a comedy show.
With Chaplin?
Yeah.
Chaplin but a Japanese version.
Or Mr. Beans, but a Japanese version.
Yeah, kind of.
Yeah.
Okay.
It has a long, long history, like 600 years.
That's really long.
600 years.
That's very long.
Yeah.
600 years.
Yeah.
Wow.
Double with the United States history, right?
Yeah.
It's quite long.
And she's the, you know, older sister.
She's the first lady Kyogen-shi.
Kyogen-shi-san.
In Japan.
In history, like 600.
Wow.
History's first lady.
And the lady we've met, the second.
Imoto-san.
Imoto-san.
Imoto-san.
The father.
Yeah.
Kids.
Yeah.
So, you can't just randomly decide to...
Brother?
Oh, yeah, sorry about that.
Brother, yes.
Brother-san, Oni-san.
You can't just randomly become a Kyogen-shi then?
03:03
Or do you have to be in a family?
I guess so.
Like, historically trace back to...
I guess so.
Oh.
It's a family one.
Family thing.
You know, have to be trained professionally, specific, you know, voice, you know.
Right, she showed us like an example of how that was quite...
Yeah, that was pretty fascinating.
Yeah.
How was...
The voice.
Yeah, like really clear.
And I don't know if it's suitable for, you know, explaining, but loud.
Big.
It was explosive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was really, you know, dynamic.
Yeah, I like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's a professional, some kind of training, voice.
And she said that she was able to do that from three.
Yeah.
Which is unbelievable.
Yeah, how does a three-year-old do that?
True.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
So, yeah.
I think I remember...
I think I may be wrong, but I may have seen a...
Seen one during high school.
Oh.
As like a field trip kind of.
Oh, okay.
In Japan.
Yeah.
I don't know if that was Kyogen or like Noh.
Oh, okay.
I think there's more.
Kabuki.
Kabuki.
At that time of...
Yeah, you just came to Japan and not knowing.
I couldn't tell the difference of it all.
Yeah.
But I remember seeing one and like there was the stage there.
Yeah.
And like the side of the stage there was this...
There was a signage, like electronic signage of like...
Electronic signage?
Yeah.
Like what they're saying is displayed on the screen.
In the translation as well.
Like for the dumbasses in Japan.
Yeah.
Like you.
Yeah.
So that we would be able to understand what they're saying.
And...
Yeah, then it must be Kyogen or Kabuki maybe.
Maybe.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
I actually have never experienced Kyogen.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kyogen.
Yeah.
But when I was an elementary school student, I tried Noh.
Okay.
You actually tried?
I tried.
There were like professional Noh performer came to the school.
And he teaches some of us.
Okay.
How to, you know, act.
How to move.
How to sing.
Mm-hmm.
And we did kind of summer school.
06:00
Mm-hmm.
We learned and did a show in front of the school.
Yeah.
But I'm sure it's quite different, Noh and Kyogen.
Kyogen?
But yeah.
How was it?
How was the Noh experience?
It was difficult because you have to, you know, respect all the rules.
Like how to move.
How to walk.
How to speak.
It's all like you have to completely do the things just like the tradition, you know.
Mm-hmm.
It's all written.
Like every step.
Yeah.
Every movement of the body.
Yeah.
Well, it's not even written.
It's just taught, you know.
It's taught.
And you have to do just like you've been told to do so.
Mm-hmm.
So yeah, it was really difficult.
Yeah.
But it was fun.
Like moving, you know, how to use your body was a new experience.
Quite fun experience to me.
Yeah.
I think there's a similar, like Shakespeare is a similar kind of like.
Oh, yeah.
I remember back when I was in middle school, teachers would give me, give us assignments
of like Hamlet or like Romeo and Juliet or like King.
Rhea?
Julius Caesar.
Okay.
Julius Caesar?
Wait, Shakespeare has a novel called Julius Caesar, right?
Dio?
King Rhea?
No.
No, no, no.
I've never heard of that.
Okay.
But yeah.
Yeah.
Those things.
It was so hard to understand.
It was so ancient English.
Mm-hmm.
Like, like how they.
Yeah.
I couldn't understand it.
And I remember buying this book.
It was called Spark Notes.
Okay.
And it was like, so it's a book.
The left side has like the Shakespeare version.
On the right side has like a modern English version.
Ah, the English version, yeah.
Yeah.
It's like it's, and I would read the modern English version and it was so much easier to understand.
Of course, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I guess it's the, it's similar to that.
True.
She said that it's all in ancient Japanese.
Muromachi jidai no Japanese.
So, maybe it's really hard for people like me and you to understand what she exactly says.
Yeah.
In the show.
And like, I don't, you know that my Koten grades were very low.
Mm-hmm.
So, I'm assuming that that, you know, if you don't understand Koten, it's an even bigger,
you know, like a bigger barrier.
Like, it's harder for people like me, I guess, to understand.
Yeah.
Yeah.
True.
Maybe I'll look at the English version first.
Yeah.
09:00
I don't know.
And understand what's going on.
Yeah.
And then the Japanese.
Yeah.
She does also the English version of Kyogen to the world.
Yeah.
So, maybe that's easier for you to understand.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But like, she said that the audience, when they looked at the English version and the
Japanese version, some people said that the English version was actually kind of easier
to understand.
Even in Japan.
Right.
Even the Japanese people said that because it's straightforward.
Yeah.
Right?
English is more accessible than like the ancient Japanese.
True.
That's what she said.
Simple and...
Which is kind of ironic and interesting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
So, the quick share of the encounter we had at the Amazon studio.
That was quite a moment.
That was quite a moment.
I felt something, you know, tradition from her.
Kind of, you know, how they stand.
Yeah.
How she stands and how she, you know, speaks.
That was cool.
Yeah.
I like that.
All right.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
So...
If you guys are interested in the show...
How do you read that?
Izumi Shimai no Kai.
All right.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm going to check that.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Bye-bye.
[Click]
Bye bye.
(clicking)
