Interesting Items of the Week – 2021 05 09

Weekly Discoveries 2021 05 09

Short (sometimes) videos or stories about interesting Japanese culture, language, entertainment, and many other things.

Rakugo (落語) is a form a Japanese theater that consists of a single storyteller. The storyteller, Rakugoka (落語家), sits on a small raised platform on a stage and tells long comical stories. The Rakugoka usually only uses two props: a Japanese style fan and a small cloth. The performer tells a story by playing the parts of at least two different characters in the story. The characters can be differentiated, or told apart, by the performer using separate tones, speech patterns, and gestures for each of the characters. While most stories finish with one big punch line at the end, there may be some smaller jokes spread throughout the story.

Here are a few videos from Katsura Sunshine, a Canadian Rakugoka who studied the art under a Japanese master. YouTube Channel: Katsura Sunshine

Here is another funny performer: