January 28. 2017
Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo Performance
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On 26th, 27thand 28th January, the Embassy of Japan organized Rakugo performances in Kathmandu by Katsura Sunshine. Rakugo is a 400 years-old tradition of comic storytelling in Japan. A minimalistic performance art, Rakugo features a lone storyteller dressed in a kimono, kneeling on a cushion, using only a fan and a hand towel for props. Canadian national Katsura Sunshine is the first-ever Western Rakugo storyteller in the history of the “Kamigata” Rakugo tradition, which is based in Osaka, Japan.
Katsura Sunshine was born in Toronto, Canada, where he studied classics at the University of Toronto. In 1999, Sunshine went to Japan to pursue studies in Noh and Kabuki Theatre. Then in 2008, he was accepted as an apprentice to the great Rakugo storytelling master, Katsura Sanshi, and subsequently received the name Katsura Sunshine. In the Rakugo tradition, he received both his master’s last name and part of the first. His master Sanshi, combined the first part of his name, “san” meaning “three”, with the Japanese words for “shine”, and gave it the Japanese pronunciation of the English word “Sunshine”.
On 26th of January there was a performance at Bhanubhakta H.S. School, where 135 students enjoyed the Rakugo. On the 27th and 28th of January at the Embassy Hall, around 230 attendees, including Ambassadors and representatives from diplomatic missions in Nepal, renowned artists and Japanese language learners, enjoyed the jokes and humor of Rakugo. The audiences of different ages enjoyed the Rakugo conversations consisting of different characters and which end in a punch line, with great laughter and regular applause. Most of those who attended commented that it was their first time to experience two completely different roles within the same performance.
Glipmses of the Rakugo
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