"Princess Kako attends ‘kyogen’ play performed in sign language in Tokyo"

Photo and text borrowed from The Asahi News, 2/2/15.

Princess Kiko and her daughter Princess Kako attended traditional “kyogen” comedic plays performed in sign language by actors with hearing impairments at the National Noh Theater in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Feb. 1.

Kako is the second daughter of Prince Fumihito, the second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne. She is studying sign language, which her mother has studied and is well versed in.

The Japanese Theater of the Deaf performed such plays as “Jishaku” (magnet). The event in Japanese is roughly translated as “kyogen performed in sign language in early spring.”

After the performances, Kiko and Kako spoke with the actors and Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, who heads the Totto Foundation, in sign language. The social welfare corporation assists the theater group.

Kako was quoted by Kuroyanagi as saying, “I laughed because (the plays) were a lot of fun.”

When an actor asked Kako about her thoughts on turning 20, which is the legal age of adulthood in Japan, she was quoted as saying, “I am now allowed to drink alcohol, but I have not tried it yet.”

Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201502020034