Rakugo (落語) Japanese comedy

So for my first real article I decided to write about something I have found really interesting, and that is Rakugo.

Rakugo (落語) who literally means "Fallen Words" its a 400+ years old kind of comedy story-telling traditional to Japan, born during the Edo Period (1603-1868) though it has roots that go all the way back to the 12th century. This kind of monologue is told by a person (rakugoka) sitting in seiza on a stage and his only helps are a single fan and a hand towel (tenugui). This stories normally have two or more characters and for the representation of each, the rakugoka uses different tones of voice and head movements.

Normally this stories talk about different daily situations of a person during the Edo Period but there are other more modern tales, for this there are two currents "koten rakugo" for older stories and "shinsaku rakugo" for newer ones. Rakugo's stories use puns and other kinds of verbal comedies to keep the listener engaged and each story is finished with a ochi (fall), that is a change or interruption of the flow of the monologue. In Japan there exists many venues that focus on this kind of art and are still fairly popular to this day, working as tourist attractions for those interested on learning about these monologues.

Rakugo is a relatively unknown kind of art outside of Japan, there have been attempts by some artists to make it more popular and appealing overseas though this efforts have been relatively unsuccessful, during japanese festivals there have been shows of Rakugo and although the attendance has been good it has never picked up, one of the reasons many of the younger foreign generations know about this is because of the anime influence, the show Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū has Rakugo as a central topic.

As someone that has seen more than one show of Rakugo I can say that it is great entertainment and a glimpse into japanese culture that many has not see.

References

"Rakugo" http://www.nippon.com/es/features/jg00045/

What is Rakugo by Ryo http://skeptikai.com/2013/01/27/what-is-rakugo/