Rakugo (落語, literally "fallen words") is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone storyteller (落語家 rakugoka) sits on stage, called kōza (高座). Using only a paper fan (扇子 sensu) and a small cloth (手拭 tenugui) as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical (or sometimes sentimental) story. The story always involves the dialogue of two or more characters. The difference between the characters is depicted only through change in pitch, tone, and a slight turn of the head.
Rakugo was originally known as karukuchi (軽口).[1] The oldest appearance of the kanji which refers specifically to this type of performance dates back to 1787, but at the time the characters themselves (落とし噺) were normally read as otoshibanashi (falling discourse).
In the middle of the Meiji period (1868–1912) the expression rakugo first started being used, and it came into common usage only in the Shōwa period (1926–1989).
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 narrative stunt known as ochi (落ち, lit. "fall") or sage (下げ, lit. "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 (芝居噺, theatre discourses), the ongyokubanashi (音曲噺, musical discourses), the kaidanbanashi (see kaidan (怪談噺, ghost discourses)), and ninjōbanashi (人情噺, sentimental discourses). In many of these forms the ochi, which is essential to the original rakugo, is absent.
Rakugo has been described as "a sitcom with one person playing all the parts" by Noriko Watanabe, assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Baruch College
Rakugo was invented by Buddhist monks in the 9th and 10th century to make their sermons more interesting and its written tradition can be traced back to the story collection Uji Shūi Monogatari (1213–18). Gradually the form turned from humorous narrative into monologue, probably upon the request of the daimyōs (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 chōnin, 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 (found written as 噺家, 咄家, or 話家; "storyteller"), corresponding to the modern term, rakugoka (落語家, "person of the falling word").
Before the advent of modern rakugo there were the kobanashi (小噺): 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, c. 1620), the work of an unknown author collecting approximately 230 stories describing the common class.
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