Eiraku’s 100 English Rakugo Scripts (Volume 1)/ Foreword

Imagination, “the act, or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality.”[1] This is the stage on which the lone rakugoka, the gifted, well-studied, and highly intuitive master storytellers perform. Kneeling down on a zabuton (floor cushion) and using only a sensu (folding fan) and a tenugui (hand towel) as props, they create myriad realms for their audience, with each realm as unique as the individual who is listening to the story. Unlike kabuki and noh, which require elaborate costumes and sets to help convey the story, rakugo storytelling is minimalistic, highly versatile, and portable. It can be performed anywhere, on street corners, theaters, restaurants, hotels, schools, offices—the possibilities are almost endless.

The ease with which rakugo can be brought to people everywhere has enabled practitioners of the art form to share it with audiences outside the borders of Japan. In 1987, a rakugo storyteller known as Katsura Shijaku II brought rakugo to American audiences for the first time. Not only was it the first time foreign audiences were introduced to this 400-year-old traditional art form; it was also the first time the stories were performed in their native language.

Until the 1890s, rakugo was limited to Japanese audiences, performed strictly by Japanese raconteurs, and conveyed only in the Japanese language. Then, an Australian named Henry James Black (also known by his stage name Kairakutei Black I) became Japan’s first foreign-born rakugoka. He amazed Japanese audiences not only with his proficiency in the Japanese language; but, also with his ability to make them laugh using a language that was not his own. Today, rakugo is performed in multiple languages and foreign rakugoka can be found among the ranks of professional rakugo storytellers.

In fact, rakugo performed in English is currently gaining popularity all over the world. In 2007, sixteen years after he began teaching rakugo in Tokyo, Kanariya Eiraku started offering rakugo classes in English. As a Japanese storyteller who performs strictly in English, he has given performances to enthusiastic audiences in Japan and abroad. In 2021, I had the honor of collaborating with this innovative rakugo storyteller on an introductory book about rakugo in English titled, Talking About Rakugo 1: The Japanese Art of Storytelling. In 2022, we again joined forces to bring you Talking About Rakugo 2: The Stories Behind the Storytellers. In these publications, we included a total of 24 classic and well-loved rakugo stories which Eiraku painstakingly translated into English. Eiraku’s translations stay true to the original Japanese versions, yet very few things ever get lost in translation. He has made certain that the things which entertain and make the Japanese audiences laugh will make foreign audiences laugh too.

We have received such overwhelming response and positive feedback for our books, that it was only logical for Eiraku to offer readers another book filled with brilliantly translated stories from a career that spans three decades.

Since rakugo is an oral tradition, it is very rare to find rakugo stories published in full length, let alone in English. In Eiraku’s 100 English Rakugo Scripts (Volume 1), you will find the full-length scripts for some of the most popular and often performed stories translated into English.

It is my hope that this book will help familiarize readers with the art of rakugo and enable them to enjoy live rakugo performances all the more. As Victor Borge once said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

—Kristine Ohkubo Author

[1] “Imagination Definition & Meaning,” Merriam-Webster (Merriam-Webster), accessed June 3, 2022, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imagination.