rakugo

It is a type of traditional storytelling that was established in Japan during the Edo period and has been handed down to the present day. Unlike other traditional performing arts such as Noh and Kabuki, there is relatively little reliance on costumes, props, and music to express everything.

It is easier to know the fun of rakugo by actually knowing the contents of rakugo. Please take a look at the outline of the opening part of one of the typical rakugo stories, “Nagaya no Hanami.” A nagaya is a long and narrow house built by dividing one house so that several households can live in it. The nagaya that appear in rakugo are rental houses in the Edo period. The people who live there are renters called ``tanago’'. And the owner of nagaya is called “o-ya”.

One day in spring, tanago are called by o-ya. It is feared that it must be a demand for rent anyway, and they talk about how long they have not paid the rent. The answers were like “three years”, “since my father’s age” and “When I moved here, I only paid once, 18 years ago.” Furthermore, there are people who give shocking answers such as “What is rent?” or “I have never received such a thing from o-ya.”

All of the tanago timidly go to o-ya’s house and apologize preemptively. When o-ya says, “I’m renting such a messy house, I’m not going to ask you to pay the rent,” tanago respond, “I’m renting such a messy house, so I’m not going to pay it too.”

O-ya says that they should go to Ueno to see the cherry blossoms(hanami) and he owns all the sake and side dishes. The tanago are relieved and happy to see it, but they still don’t let their guard down. Just as they feared, the three bottles of sake are diluted cheap tea, as the side dish the kamaboko is sliced radish, and the tamagoyaki is takuan, a yellow pickled radish. The person on duty for that month carries a mushiro, a rough cloth made of straw,instead of a fineground sheet and and all of them go out to the hills of Ueno. They are saying, “We are going to Hanami, hanami,” and also saying “We are on the night escape, night escape.”

Well, in rakugo, people live their lives cheerfully, happily, and funny like this.