An Experimental Stage for "Laughter" Where Unique and Talented Individuals Gather
Rakugo Research Society
2019/01/17
"Keio Yose" is a performance held at the Keio University school festival, the "Mita Festival," every November, drawing one of the largest audiences of about 3,000 people. Hosted by the "Rakugo Research Society," an officially authorized student club, this yose (storyteller's hall) is highly acclaimed for its all-day program featuring a wide variety of comedic performances by its members, who are Keio students. These include rakugo, as well as konto (short skits), manzai (stand-up comedy), and ogiri (improvisational comedy).
The Rakugo Research Society, said to have been founded in 1954, is known as one of the longest-running circles among the officially authorized student clubs at Keio University. Initially, it held rakugo appreciation events featuring professional rakugo storytellers. Soon after, the Keio students themselves began to perform, and its alumni include professional rakugo storytellers such as Danke Tatekawa. In addition to the two annual school festivals (the Mita Festival and the Yagami Festival), the society receives many requests to perform at elementary schools, nursing homes, and local events throughout Japan. Currently, its 30 members give nearly 100 performances a year, diligently honing their craft and sense of humor.
Rakugo is said to have its roots in the "otogishu," who served as storytellers to feudal lords during the Muromachi period. In the Edo period, professional rakugo storytellers who earned money with their narrative art emerged, and it has become one of the traditional performing arts passed down to the present day. Its most distinctive feature is the "ochi," or punchline, at the end of the story. Using gestures and skillful narration, a single performer plays multiple roles while developing stories such as "ninjo-banashi" (human-interest stories) and "kokkei-banashi" (comical stories).
A single performer, with only their storytelling skills, can make the audience imagine the entire story. Shogo Matsui, who leads the Rakugo Research Society under the stage name "20th Dōraku," says this is the true pleasure of rakugo.
"I've always loved things with stories, like movies, novels, and manga. I thought that with rakugo, I could express all these elements by myself, so I joined the Rakugo Research Society," says Matsui. "In konto, once you decide on a stage setting, you can't change it. But in rakugo, you can change the scene just by saying, 'I'm on Earth now, but in the meantime, I've arrived in space.' Only rakugo can turn things that can't be visualized or impossible developments into a story. That's its strength and its greatest appeal."
Getting Laughs or Bombing All Depends on the Makura
The basic structure of a rakugo performance is the makura (prologue) → hondai (main story) → ochi (or sage) (punchline). The makura is a bit of small talk or a short anecdote related to the main story, told before the hondai to warm up the audience and draw them into the world of the story. The content varies depending on the performer, but for professional rakugo storytellers, the quality of the makura is said to be a crucial element that reveals their skill.
"I pride myself on being particularly meticulous about my makura among the members," says Matsui. "In rakugo, it's not enough for the story to just be heard; it has to be conveyed. When I can communicate my character and worldview in the makura and the audience finds it interesting, only then can they enter that world, and the performance succeeds as rakugo. The most difficult part, even after four years, is creating images in the audience's mind, not just conveying information. To achieve this, I've read rakugo books, studied the speaking styles of my favorite comedians and arranged them in my own way—I've gone through a lot of trial and error."
Yurika Yamaguchi, a first-year student, is now keenly aware of the difficulty and importance of the makura. For her name succession ceremony as "5th Fūko" at this year's Mita Festival, she chose "Kanninbukuro," a popular story about a married couple's quarrel in a tenement house. During the month and a half of practice sessions, she sought her own style of rakugo while receiving guidance from senior members on various aspects such as phrasing, tempo, use of pauses, gestures, and character portrayal. Above all, she says she went through a process of trial and error in choosing material for her makura, and made a bold change just before the performance.
"If you just get on the kōza (stage) and start the story casually, the audience feels distant," says Yamaguchi. "Figuring out how to get closer to the audience and make them laugh is a really difficult part of actually performing rakugo. For this makura, after thinking about how to get closer to the audience, I abandoned the family-related material I had originally planned and decided to start from a self-deprecating perspective, presenting myself as a weak person from the countryside. Furthermore, by creating a structure where the main story begins with a sudden shout after setting up that I had a cold and could barely speak, I received applause for my makura for the first time (laughs)."
Laughter Brings Out andNurtures Individuality
Although Yamaguchi successfully completed her name succession performance with a commanding storytelling style belying her first-year status and a repertoire perfectly suited to her bright and energetic character, she had actually never heard rakugo before joining the Rakugo Research Society. The deciding factor for her joining was the presence of the uniquely individual members.
"When I visited, I was drawn to the unique worldview and fun of rakugo, which I was seeing for the first time. At the same time, I saw that each member was an exceptionally strong individual, unlike anyone I had ever met before, and I had a gut feeling that this would be interesting," says Yamaguchi. Similarly, Matsui says he was also drawn to the unique senior members and decided to join.
"We think of the Rakugo Research Society as an 'experimental stage for entertainment,'" says Matsui. "The privilege of student rakugo is that we can do things that go beyond taboos and boundaries, things that can't be done in the professional or television world. We've tried anything and everything interesting to entertain the audience. When I was a second-year student, I tried incorporating freestyle rap into a rakugo performance. At last year's Mita Festival, someone even actually slurped soba noodles on the kōza while saying, 'In rakugo, there's a gesture for slurping soba...' (laughs)."
The Rakugo Research Society, which has produced such unique talent, also has active exchanges with its graduates. Thanks to its long history, members can meet alumni in their 80s at events like the new student welcome party, the Waseda-Keio rivalry, and the "Rakuraku-kai" alumni association. It is also customary for past graduates who once held a particular stage name to rush to the first-year students' name succession ceremonies at the Mita Festival to deliver a "kōjō" (stage announcement). At Yamaguchi's ceremony this year, an alumna six years her senior who went by "3rd Fūko" delivered the announcement.
"I've watched videos of '3rd Fūko's' rakugo many times, and her storytelling, which makes use of her unique everyday character, is really funny," says Yamaguchi. "I hope to one day become a performer like her, who can quickly connect with the audience."
"At the Rakugo Research Society, we have many opportunities to talk with senior members who are much older than us. From that experience, I learned to 'behave and fool around properly.' I felt that by approaching them with an open mind, I could communicate well with them and learn a great deal more," says Matsui.
Continuing to pursue a kind of laughter unique to students that professionals cannot, the spirit of challenge unique to the Rakugo Research Society, passed down uninterrupted for over half a century, will surely continue to bring smiles to many people's faces, today and in the future.
*You can watch a video of the performance by Meiyū, who was the final act on the last day of the 2018 Mita Festival Keio Yose, below. Please note that some parts of the audio may be difficult to hear.