Rakugo

Rakugo (落語 literally "fallen words") is a Japanese entertainment form based on comical monologues. The speaker sits on a large pillow called zabuton, and using only a paper fan as a prop, and without standing up from his seat, 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. The oldest appearance of the kanji which can be distinctly refers specifically to this type of performance dates back to 1787, but at the time the characters themselves were normally read as otoshibanashi (falling discourse).

In the middle of the Meiji period (1867–1912) the expression rakugo first started being used, and it came into common usage only in the Shōwa period (1926–1989).

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 cunning narrative stunt known as ochi (fall) or sage (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 (theatre discourses), the ongyokubanashi (musical discourses), the kaidanbanashi (see kaidan; ghost discourses), and ninjōbanashi (sentimental discourses). In many of these forms the ochi, which is essential to the original rakugo, is absent.

History

The origin of this art form can be traced back to the story collection Uji Shūi Monogatari (1213–1218). Gradually the form turned from humorous narrative into monologue, probably upon the request of the daimyo, feudal lords, seeking people skilled enough to entertain them with various kinds of storytelling.

During the Edo period (1603–1867), thanks to the emergence of the merchant class of the chonin, 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 (lit. “storyteller”), corresponding to the modern term, rakugoka (lit. “person of the falling word”).

Before the advent of modern rakugo there were the kobanashi: 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, circa 1620), the work of an unknown author collecting approximately 230 stories describing the common 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 (1554–1642), the author of the Seisuishō (Laughter to Chase Away Sleep, 1628), which is a collection of more than 1,000 stories. In Edo (today's Tokyo) there also lived Shikano Buzaemon (1649–1699) 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 milieu. Tatekawa Enba (1743–1822) was author of the Rakugo rokugi (The Six Meanings of Rakugo).

Kyōto 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 from the Kantō Plain, Ōsaka, 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:

A man faints in a bathing tub. In the great confusion following a doctor arrives who takes his pulse and calmly gives the instructions: "Pull the plug and let the water out." Once the water has flown completely out of the tub he says: "Fine. Now put a lid on it and carry the guy to the cemetery." 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, Tachibanaya Takezou, Tatekawa Shinosuke 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, Tsurube Shōfukutei, and Shōhei Shōfukutei.

Titles

• Jugemu
• The Cat's Plate (Neko no Sara)

List of rakugoka

• Sanpei Hayashiya
• Shozo Hayashiya
• Kokontei Shinchou

See also

• Stand-up comedy
• Xiangsheng