Tonight I went to a very special place in Nagoya with Yasunori.

It is the home of a family who have been performing Kyogen theatre for 400 years – a family of national treasures and it felt incredibly special. They used to be employed to entertain the emperor and in 2005 three generations appeared on stage together. I almost forgot what I was doing there as the boys were put through their paces and the story of snails giving longevity and the story of a young priest exorcising a man’s son of owl-like demon’s were played out.

 
We spoke about tradition versus the contemporary, how Japan and the United Kingdom have similarities in these ways and the tensions that lie between the old and the new. I left with a fantastic book of photographs called “Ga-shin-kyo – Nomura Matasaburo and his family” and a bag full of snacks, and a promise to introduce my children to their children when they come here in a few weeks time. When I got back to Fushimi, I got out of the subway and was lost for over an hour and a half. My phone didn’t work and I bought glittery nail polish, like that would help. If it wasn’t for the giant silver ball of the Science Museum I would still be out there now. When I got back to the apartment strangely my phone worked again.

We are looking for a boy to tell the story I am writing on the boat. Tonight we may have found him.