Takigawa Koito: Fashion Model, Actor and Rakugoka

Although there are various places in which to enjoy rakugo in Tokyo and Osaka, Nagoya is home to only one venue known as the OSU ENGEIJYO. (https://www.osuengei.nagoya/) There are six professional rakugo storytellers based in Nagoya City, and they all belong to the Toryu-tei performing family.

Last night as I was watching the popular television program Shoten, another rakugo storyteller who claims to be from Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture appeared on the program as a guest. He is 38-year-old Takigawa Koito. Actually, Koito whose real name is Oguchi Naoya, was born in Tokyo in 1984. His family moved to Sapporo, Hokkaido when he was 3 years old and later to Nagoya when he was an elementary school student. Rather than going into great detail about his family’s relocation history, Koito simply claims that he was born in Nagoya since that was where he spent most of his youth.

As a youngster, Koito excelled in sports and was scouted by the coach of the Aichi national soccer team while still a junior high school student. It appeared that he would have a brilliant future as a star soccer player; however, Koito became fascinated by motorcycles and joined a motorcycle gang in Nagoya. In his autobiography released in 2021, Koito claimed that he was expelled from high school after just one day. In 2002, at the age of 18, he quit the motorcycle gang and moved to Tokyo with aspirations of becoming an actor.

He was working as a part-timer in a restaurant in Shinjuku when he saw the rakugo performance of his future master, Takigawa Koisho. Koisho performed a story that was a favorite of legendary rakugo storyteller Tatekawa Danshi called “Shibahama,” or “Shiba Beach.” Koito was so impressed by Koisho’s performance that he asked to become his apprentice right there and then. Koisho agreed and Koito officially began training as a rakugoka in 2005. He was promoted to the second level, Futatsume, in 2009, and he advanced to Shinuchi, the highest level attainable as a rakugo performer, in 2019.

Soon after becoming Koisho’s apprentice, the TBS television drama “Tiger & Dragon,” featuring Nagase Tomoya and Okada Junichi aired. The story is about a yakuza (Japanese gangster) who has ambitions of becoming a rakugo storyteller. Koito, who had previously been the leader of a motorcycle gang in Nagoya, began to attract attention as the "real-life Tiger & Dragon."

Standing at 6 ft tall, with ruggedly handsome features, Koito has managed to overturn the conventional image of a rakugo storyteller and has gained quite a following of female fans. As such, he also works as a model for the fashion magazine LEON.

In an interview given to a popular Japanese publication after the release of his autobiography, Koito stated, "I would be happy if more people became interested in rakugo after learning that even a guy like me could become a rakugo performer."

Note: Takigawa Koito belongs to the Rakugo Arts Association (https://www.geikyo.com/profile/profile_detail.php?id=18)