＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added June 2, 2023> Ryutaro Kamioka, famous for his renowned quotes about comedians, has passed away.
Ryutaro Kamioka, a man I loved for his sharp, scathing remarks (hits right on the mark and refreshingly insulting), has passed away at the age of 81. May he rest in peace. Thank you very much.
For a very short period from 1980 to 1982, there was a nationwide “manzai boom.” This was apparently sparked by television programs such as “Kao Meijin Gekijyo” and “THE MANZAI.”
The nationwide boom subsequently died down, but manzai remains popular in Osaka.
However, while rakugo did not experience the same explosive popularity as the manzai boom, it enjoys a quiet, understated yet enduring popularity. Nippon Television’s “Shoten,” which began broadcasting in 1966, holds the Guinness World Record for “the longest-running television variety show in Japan and the world.” The “Ogiri Corner” performed by Rakugo performers is extremely popular.
1. Celebrities whose style is influenced by rakugo
(1) R-Shitei (1991-present)
Recently, while casually watching TV, I noticed a comedian doing a funny rap-style talk show. I mistakenly thought he was a comedian; it was actually the currently popular rapper R-Shitei.
On the show, he performed a “freestyle rap” called “Prince Shotoku Style.” This involves improvising a rap using multiple words provided by the audience.
Although he is a “Inkyara” (gloomy character, uncool person), his “funny storytelling with rap” is a bit different from the self-deprecating stand-up comedian Hiroshi or the guitar samurai Hata Yoku.
He loves Rakugo and listens to it often, and says his rap is influenced by both pop music and Rakugo.
(2) Knights
When listening to the manzai of the comedy duo “Knights,” Nobuyuki Hanawa (1978-present) and Nobuyuki Tsuchiya (1978-present), one can sense a certain rakugo flavor. This is no surprise, as “Knights” are members of both the “Manzai Association” and the “Rakugo Art Association.” The two met at the Soka University Rakugo Study Group.
(3) Kanda Matsunojyo (1983-present)
Kanda Matsunojyo is extremely popular, known as “the storyteller whose tickets are currently the hardest to get.” I believe the reason his stories are so popular with young people is because they incorporate a rakugo spice not found in traditional storytelling.
He apparently listened to a lot of rakugo during his university days, but decided that there was little room for him to develop, with there already being so many rakugo artists and with new rakugo stories, rakugo in English, rakugo in sign language, etc., so he became a “kodanshi,” an “endangered profession” with few competitors and an unexplored field.
On February 11, 2020, Kanda Matsunojyo succeeded to the prestigious storytelling stage name “Kanda Hakusan” as the VI.
(4) Masashi Sada (1952-present)
When Masashi Sada debuted as a member of the group “Grape” and sang songs like “Shoryo Nagashi,” he was perceived as a weak, gloomy singer who sang while playing the violin. However, around the time of “Kanpaku Sengen,” he seemed to be liberated, and his cheerful manner of speaking became a major attraction at his concerts.
At the Grape’s final concert, he explained the reason for the group’s disbandment, saying, “After Shoryo Nagashi, Muenzaka Hill, and Enkiriji Temple, the only thing left was the graveyard.”
He belonged to rakugo study groups in high school and college, and his motto is “Life is bright, songs are dark.”
At concerts, there are “talks” or “banashi” (speeches) between songs, but in his case, “one hour out of three hours is spent talking.” The content seems to be mostly rakugo or stand-up comedy. According to Masashi Sada, “a rakugo performer told his disciple, ‘Go and study at one of Masashi Sada’s concerts.'”
(5) Shinji Tanimura (1948-2023)
Like Masashi Sada, Shinji Tanimura, whom I previously wrote about, is also well-known for his entertaining talk at concerts. Even when watching his appearances on television, his skillful storytelling makes you chuckle, truly demonstrating his true calling as a “storyteller.”
(6) Ryutaro Kamioka (1942-2023)
Although he is now retired, Ryutaro Kamioka was also a fan of rakugo. As a boy, he was passionate about hawkers like Tora-san the Futen no Tora-san, as well as plays, kabuki, and movies.
He described his art as follows:
People say I’m intelligent, but I only say random things. I’d be happy if more knowledgeable people looked at me and laughed, saying, “What a cute guy.”
I remember the most trivial things, but I lack knowledge of the important parts. I call this the “doughnut phenomenon of knowledge.”
His fluent and snappy way of speaking, like water flowing from a board, and his talk-style, which features sharp, sarcastic remarks and a punchline like a comedian, seem like a hybrid of a kagurashi (traditional Japanese storyteller), kodan (storytelling), and rakugo (comic storytelling). In his self-introduction on the show, he said, “My art is first-rate, my popularity is second-rate, and my pay is third-rate. I’m Ryutaro Kamioka, an underprivileged genius.” This perfectly captures his character.
In fact, he has performed on stage as a storyteller under the name “Kyokudo Nanja,” and is also a disciple of Tatekawa Danshi’s Tatekawa School of Rakugo (stage name: Tatekawa Utaemon).
Tatekawa Danshi described him as “an entertainer who admired and yearned to be an entertainer, and who continued to try to become one, but in the end was unable to fully become one.”
2. Other Celebrities Who Love Rakugo
There are many other celebrities who love rakugo.
Shimura Ken is said to be a fan of Katsura Shijaku and Kokontei Shinsho.
Beat Takeshi is also said to be a fan of Kokontei Shinsho. In 2019, he appeared in “Idaten: Tokyo Olympic Banashi” as both narrator and Kokontei Shinsho, but his pronunciation was so poor it was disappointing. It made me worry that people would misunderstand, “Is this all there is to the master Kokontei Shinsho?”
This was likely due to the fact that screenwriter Kudo Kankuro, a rakugo fan, was so determined to include Kokontei Shinsho in the drama that he ended up forcing it in.