The Art of Japanese Comedy “Rakugo” Warms Up Taiwan’s Winter
This winter, Japanese storytellers travelled to Taiwan, bringing with them their sit-down comedy tradition “Rakugo”.
Performance: Traditional Storytelling Japanese Performance - Rakugo
Genre: Comedy
Worth the journey: ★★★★☆
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — As soon as the light goes out, our attention turns to the dazzling spotlight falling on a raised pedestal placed at the centre of the stage. The sound of drum beats kicks in, punctuating the rhythm of our heart beat. Then comes the lyrical melody of shamisen, a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument.
Played by musician in the backstage, this music felt as if it were used to cleanse our mind and soul occupied by all worldly matters, preparing the audience to enter this unique world of Japanese comedy known as rakugo.
A koza is placed in the centre of the stage. To the left side, the name of the performing rakugoka, Hikoichi Hayashiya, is found on the banner.
Before the show begins, a rakugoka (storyteller) enters the stage and sits in seiza position. His name is Hikoichi Hayashiya (林家彦いち) who, began studying rakugo in 1989 under Kikuo Hayashiya, was promoted to shin-ichi, the highest rank that a rakugoka could obtain. With an interpreter standing next to him, Hikoichi Hayashiya gives us an introduction to rakugo, as this traditional art form may sound foreign to the ears of most Taiwanese audience.
Rakugo, literally “fallen words”, refers to a form of Japanese verbal entertainment, whose roots could be traced to more than one thousand years ago when Buddhist monks would create stories to preach their sermons.
Unlike stand-up comedy seem in other traditions, rakugo can be referred to as “sit-down” comedy. A rakugo performance features a lone storyteller (rakugoka) sitting in in seiza position on a koza, or raised platform. His only props are a paper fan (sensu) and a small piece of cloth (tenugui). In the performance, a rakugoka would recount tales of daily life, sometimes making reference to moral lessons. The monologues always involve two or more characters, whose differentiation is portrayed through change in voice, tone, and gesture.
After this brief introduction, the show begins with Kiyohiko Hayashiya (林家きよ彦), the disciple of Hikoichi Hayashiya. She was promoted to futame (second-ranked rakugoka eligible for stage appearances) in 2021, and is known for creating rakugo acts inspired by art and sake (Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice).
Kiyohiko Hayashiya brings to us her original act titled “Parent-Child Alcohol” (translated from Chinese title), an anecdote that details the story of a mother and her daughter, both of whom are addicted to alcohol. Throughout the performance, Kiyohiko Hayashiya vividly portrays the transition of the mother from sober state to drunk, winning rounds of applause and laughter from the audience.
After this act, the performance proceeds with the debut of Shourakugo Hayashiya (林家正楽), an artist specialised in kamikiri, the Japanese art of paper-cutting. The artist began studying kamikiri under second-generation Shourakugo Hayashiya in 1966, and later became the third-generation Shourakugo Hayashiya himself in 2000.
Rakugga Hikoichi Hayashiya (centre), Kiyohiko Hayashiya (left), and kamikiri artist Shourakugo Hayashiya (right).
Courtesy of National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts (Weiwuying)
What fascinates me the most about Shourakugo Hayashiya’s performance is that he’s able to cut beautiful image from blank paper using only a pair of scissors. I recall bumping into street artist in Brussels who performed live paper-cutting, but it was nothing comparing to the artistry of Shourakugo Hayashiya.
Instead of depicting only a single subject like what most paper-cutting artist would do, Shourakugo Hayashiya’s cut-out is composed with rich imagery and poetry, and is full of intricate details even when looking from afar.
Shourakugo Hayashiya first showed us a man riding a horse, then a couple walking under the rain with an umbrella. It only takes him about two to three minutes to create each cut-out that is done freehand.
Then, he asks the audience to challenge him; among the themes proposed by the audience are tarabuso (Eurasian bittern), actor Kimura Takuya, and Totoro from the celebrated Japanese animation. Expectedly, Shourakugo Hayashiya tackles each request with ease.
What’s impressive is to see how much Shourakugo Hayashiya enjoys his creative process. While performing kamikiri, the 74-year-old man often laughs to himself or waltz to the music of shamisen — something that the artist later claimed to have done on purpose. As he had shown us, if he were to sit still during the process, the performance would look as delightful.
Kamikiri artist Shourakugo Hayashiya performing his art
(Source from internet)
The finale arrives with Hikoichi Hayashiya performing a rakugo act titled “Chili-totenchi” (translated from Chinese title). The rakugoka recounts the story of a host who invites his neighbour over for dinner; the neighbour appraises the quality of the food he’s been served, including wine, sashimi and kabayaki eel. The story unfolds as the host decides to trick his own son — who calls himself a ”foodie” — into eating rotten food. The dish is made from tofu that’s been left over by the host’s wife in the cupboard for months; on top of this tofu, the host adds extra child powder, soy sauce and, in particular, soybean paste from Taiwan.
In this act that combines comedy, storytelling and mime, Hikoichi Hayashiya manages to portray up to four different characters. In particular, he expresses the son’s emotional and physical struggle when eating the rotten food. The only prop he uses is his fan, which has been turned into his “chopsticks” — the rest is all up to the audience’s imagination.
When asked what this special dish taste like, the son simply answers: rotten tofu. Though there’s no further explanation from rakugoka after performance, it seems to me that the rotten tofu is in fact a reference made to Taiwan’s most notorious delicacy: Taiwanese stinky tofu.
While a small portion of the audience could understand Japanese without difficulty, the rest of us have to refer to the Chinese subtitles projected on the back screen throughout this 1-hour performance. Nevertheless, the amount of mime presented throughout the acts — both rakugo and kamikiri — seems to break through that linguistic barrier, warming up a full house on a chilly winter evening with joy and laughter.
As part of the Weiwuying Showtime program, Traditional Storytelling Japanese Performance - Rakugo was staged at the National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts (Weiwuying) in Kaohsiung on November 30, 2022.