I was once lucky enough to attend a authentic kabuki play in Tokyo. (They’re expensive, and I wasn’t paying, fortunately). In old Japan, a hallmark of beauty and feminine sexual allure was the “sideways glance” of the eyes (nagashime). The play was able to convey this, and it highlighted an important point. This is the fact that Japanese women can convey strong feminine energy simply with their carriage, demeanor, and body movements. The compliant nod of a beautiful face, with glowing skin and gentle almond eyes, a singsong voice, the movement of a supple wrist, and the poise with which the beautiful girls of the Ginza carry their purses (right palm upturned) as they float lotus-like around the shopping malls of downtown Tokyo: these are the scenes that I want to flash across my mind before I die. You just feel better being around them. It is not easy to describe to someone who has not lived there, but it is tangible.
