Rakugo
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on the stage, called the . Using only a paper fan (扇子, "sensu") and a small cloth (手拭, "tenugui") as props, and without standing up from the seiza
Seiza
Seiza is the Japanese term for the traditional formal way of sitting in Japan.- Form :To sit seiza-style, one first kneels on the floor, folding one's legs underneath one's thighs, while resting the buttocks on the heels...

 sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical story. The story always involves the dialogue of two or more characters, the difference between the characters depicted only through change in pitch, tone, and a slight turn of the head.

Lexical background

Rakugo was originally known as karukuchi (軽口). The oldest appearance of the kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 which refers specifically to this type of performance dates back to 1787, but at the time the characters themselves (落し噺) were normally read as otoshibanashi (falling discourse).

In the middle of the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 (1868–1912) the expression rakugo first started being used, and it came into common usage only in the Shōwa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...

 (1926–89).

Description

The speaker is in the middle of the audience, and his purpose is to stimulate the general hilarity with tone and limited, yet specific body gestures. The monologue always ends with a narrative stunt known as ochi (落ち, lit. "fall") or sage (下げ, lit. "lowering"), consisting of a sudden interruption of the wordplay flow. Twelve kinds of ochi are codified and recognized, with more complex variations having evolved through time from the more basic forms.

Early rakugo has developed into various styles, including the shibaibanashi (芝居噺, theatre discourses), the ongyokubanashi (音曲噺, musical discourses), the kaidanbanashi (see kaidan
Kaidan
Kaidan is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 meaning “strange, mysterious, rare or bewitching apparition" and 談 meaning “talk” or “recited narrative.”-Overall meaning and usage:...

; 怪談噺, ghost discourses), and ninjōbanashi (人情噺, sentimental discourses). In many of these forms the ochi, which is essential to the original rakugo, is absent.

Rakugo has been described as "a sitcom with one person playing all the parts" by Noriko Watanabe, assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Baruch College
Baruch College
Bernard M. Baruch College, more commonly known as Baruch College, is a constituent college of the City University of New York, located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, New York City. With an acceptance rate of just 23%, Baruch is among the most competitive and diverse colleges in the nation...

.

History

The origin of this art form can be traced back to the story collection Uji Shūi Monogatari
Uji Shui Monogatari
is a collection of Japanese tales written around the beginning of the 13th century. The author is unknown, and it may have been revised several times....

(1213–18).
Gradually the form turned from humorous narrative into monologue, probably upon the request of the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

, feudal lords, seeking people skilled enough to entertain them with various kinds of storytelling.

During the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 (1603–1867), thanks to the emergence of the merchant class of the chonin
Chonin
was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period. The majority of chōnin were merchants, but some were craftsmen, as well. Nōmin were not considered chōnin...

, the rakugo spread to the lower classes. Many groups of performers were formed, and collections of texts were finally printed. During the 17th century the actors were known as hanashika (found written as 噺家, 咄家, or 話家; lit. “storyteller”), corresponding to the modern term, rakugoka (落語家, lit. “person of the falling word”).

Before the advent of modern rakugo there were the kobanashi (小噺): short comical vignettes ending with an ochi, popular between the 17th and the 19th century. These were enacted in small public venues, or in the streets, and printed and sold as pamphlets. The origin of kobanashi is to be found in the Kinō wa kyō no monogatari (Yesterday Stories Told Today, ca. 1620), the work of an unknown author collecting approximately 230 stories describing the common class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

.

Important contributors

Many artists contributed to the development of rakugo. Some were simply performers, but many also composed original works.

Among the more famous rakugoka of the Tokugawa Era were performers like Anrakuan Sakuden
Anrakuan Sakuden
was an Edo period Japanese priest of the Jōdo sect of Buddhism; devotee of the tea ceremony; connoisseur of camellias; and dilettante poet. The name Anrakuan takes from the name of the tea house that he built and lived at after he retired at the age of seventy. He is famous as the author of the...

 (1554–1642), the author of the Seisuishō (Laughter to Chase Away Sleep, 1628), a collection of more than 1,000 stories. In Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

 (today's Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

) there also lived Shikano Buzaemon (1649–99) who wrote the Shikano Buzaemon kudenbanashi (Oral Instruction Discourses of Shikano Buzaemon) and the Shika no makifude (The Deer's Brush, 1686), a work containing 39 stories, eleven of which are about the kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 milieu
Social environment
The social environment of an individual, also called social context or milieu, is the culture that s/he was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom the person interacts....

. Tatekawa Enba (1743–1822) was author of the Rakugo rokugi (The Six Meanings of Rakugo).

Kyōto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

 was the home of Tsuyu no Gorobei (1643–1703), whose works are included in the Karakuchi tsuyu ga hanashi (One-liners: Morning Dew Stories, date of composition unknown), containing many word games, episodes from the lives of famous literary authors, and plays on the different dialects
Japanese dialects
The comprise many regional variants. The lingua franca of Japan is called hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo , and while it was based initially on the Tokyo dialect, the language of Japan's capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many dialects...

 from the Tōkyō
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Ōsaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, and Kyōto.

Of a similar structure is the Karakuchi gozen otoko (One-liners: An Important Storyteller, date of publication unknown) in which are collected the stories of Yonezawa Hikohachi, who lived in Ōsaka towards the end of the 17th century. An example from Yonezawa Hikohachi's collection:
For the poor man is already dead. The joke becomes clearer when one notes that a Japanese traditional bathing tub is shaped like a coffin.

Current performers

Current rakugo artists include Tatekawa Danshi, Tachibanaya Enzou, Katsura Sanshi
Sanshi Katsura
Katsura Sanshi is a popular TV presenter and rakugo artist in Japan.Sanshi's real name is "Kawamura Shizuya" , Katsura Sanshi is his stage name...

, Tachibanaya Takezou
Tachibanaya Takezou
Tachibanaya Takezou is a rakugo artist , born October 22, 1947, in Iida, Nagano, Japan. He currently resides in Tokyo. He first performed in September, 1965 at Shinjuku Suehirotei, with a story called Karanuke. He regular performs in Shinjuku, Asakusa, Ueno and Ikebukuro...

, Tatekawa Shinosuke
Shinosuke Tatekawa
, born 15 February 1954, is a rakugo performer from Shinminato, Toyama . His real name is Teruo Takeuchi . With his comic group, Rokunin-no-Kai , formed in 2003, he has helped to popularise rakugo among young Japanese people...

 and Shōzō Hayashiya (9th). Furthermore, many people regarded as more mainstream comedians originally trained as rakugoka apprentices, even adopting stage names given them by their masters. Some examples include Sanma Akashiya
Sanma Akashiya
is a Japanese TV comedian and actor simply known as Sanma. His real name is . His talent agency is Yoshimoto Corporation.Together with Beat Takeshi and Tamori, Sanma is said to be one of the "Big Three" tarento of Japan. Sanma's nickname is . He is known for his ability to endlessly carry a...

, Tsurube Shōfukutei, and Shōhei Shōfukutei. Another famous rakugo performer, Shijaku Katsura
Shijaku Katsura
' was a Japanese rakugo performer of the late 20th century, who often performed in English. He was born ' in Kobe, the son of a brick-maker. In 1960 he entered the tutelage of the rakugo performer ', and upon completion of his study, was given the stage name '. He changed his stage name to Shijaku...

, is known outside Japan for his performances of rakugo in English.

Titles

  • Jugemu
    Jugemu
    is a Japanese folktale and is one of the most famous stories in rakugo, a form of Japanese spoken entertainment. It has a simple storyline, with the most humorous part being the repeating of a ridiculously long name...

  • The Cat's Plate (Neko no Sara). Nominated for the "Best Animated Short" Oscar in 2003.
  • Shibahama
  • Pacific Saury of Meguro (Meguro no Sanma)
  • I Hate Manju (Manjuu kowai)

Edo (Tokyo)

  • Kairakutei Black
    Henry Black (rakugoka)
    Henry James Black was a kabuki actor and Japan's only foreign-born rakugoka, or public storyteller, performing under the name . He was also known by the name Ishii Black . His father was J. R...

     (Henry Black)
  • Sanpei Hayashiya
    Sanpei Hayashiya
    Sanpei Hayashiya was a Japanese Rakugo comedian. His trademark line was "Sō nansu, okusan! " Shozo Hayashiya is his son.-References:...

  • Shozo Hayashiya
  • Kokontei Shinchō
  • Danshi Tatekawa
  • Enzō Tachibanaya
  • Bafuu Reireisya
  • Shinshō Kokontei
  • 5th Enraku Sanyūtei
    Sanyutei Enraku
    5th Sanyutei Enraku was a Japanese Rakugo comedian best known for hosting the Shōten comedy show on Nippon TV. His comedic career spanned several decades....

  • Utamaru Katsura
  • Koyūza Sanyūtei
  • Kōraku Sanyutei
  • Kikuō Hayashiya (formerly Kikuzō Hayashiya)
  • Shōta Syunpūtei
  • 6th Enraku Sanyūtei(formerly Rakutaro sanyutei)
  • Taihei Hayashiya
  • konpei Hayashiya
  • Suzumaru Reireisya (Takao Yamada)
  • Koasa Syunpūtei
  • Ryusyō syunpūtei
  • Kosan Yanagiya
  • Enchō Sanyūtei
  • Yumenosuke Sansyōtei
  • Yonesuke Katsura
  • Chiraku Ryūtei
  • Kosanji Yanagiya

Kamigata (Ōsaka)

  • Sanshi Katsura
    Sanshi Katsura
    Katsura Sanshi is a popular TV presenter and rakugo artist in Japan.Sanshi's real name is "Kawamura Shizuya" , Katsura Sanshi is his stage name...

  • Beichō Katsura
  • Bunchin Katsura
  • Nikaku Shōfukutei
  • Kachō Tsukitei
  • Harudanji Kataura
  • Happō Tsukitei
  • Matsunosuke Shōfukutei
  • Shōkaku Shōfukutei
  • Shijaku Katsura
    Shijaku Katsura
    ' was a Japanese rakugo performer of the late 20th century, who often performed in English. He was born ' in Kobe, the son of a brick-maker. In 1960 he entered the tutelage of the rakugo performer ', and upon completion of his study, was given the stage name '. He changed his stage name to Shijaku...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK