{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”ba8595b2-a23d-11e6-ad89-2f4cc1cfe5ae”}}

From the Land of the Rising Sun comes a 400-year-old traditional form of storytelling.

Canadian native Katsura Sunshine comes to WSU to give a Rakugo performance. Rakugo is a form of Japanese comic storytelling where a lone teller kneels on a cushion, dressed in a kimono and recites stories both anecdotal and ones that have been passed down for decades.

Kayo Niimi, a Japanese language professor at WSU and organizer of the event, said Rakugo started in the Edo period as a form of entertaining general populous rather than upscale people. The form is minimalist in nature, with the storyteller using only two props: a small towel or cloth and a fan.

“Sometimes the fan can be like chopsticks or a cloth is used as a book,” Niimi said. “The audience will use their imagination while (the storyteller is) doing the performance.”

Another common, traditional form of Japanese theater is Kabuki, known for its elaborate makeup and costumes. In comparison to the simpler form of Rakugo, the two are completely different theater styles.

Niimi said she had seen Rakugo before and thought it would be interesting to have a similar event at WSU. It would have been difficult to bring in the group of Japanese performers she had seen, but then she found Sunshine, who has done Rakugo all over the world.

Katsura Sunshine was originally a playwright and lived in Japan for 16 years. He said he was interested in the ancient topics, including comedy and drama, and he became drawn to Rakugo after seeing it performed in a restaurant.

Sunshine said Rakugo is broken into two parts: the first part is like stand-up comedy where the storyteller gives their own anecdotes, and the second part is the main story which has been learned from a master.

“It’s a 400-year-old tradition of comic storytelling,” he said, “where the stories have been passed down from master to apprentice through generation after generation.”

The stories are carried through the voice and little movement. Moving the head to the left would be one character while moving right would be a second character.

Though minimal in nature, Rakugo still has that comic effect, Sunshine said. The use of the two props dates back to when Rakugo first began. In that era, the kimono was the casual, normal dress. When someone left the house, the two objects they would usually have with them was the fan and the cloth, Sunshine said.

Rakugo is verbally driven, with some gestures but not much movement since the storyteller stays kneeling through the show.

“There are traditional Rakugo that multiple storytellers perform, but at the same time the individual tellers make up their own minds,” Niimi said.

Like a one-man show, Rakugo comedy comes from the content, where characters find themselves in funny situations, Sunshine said.

Niimi said she hopes the people attending will have a good time. There aren’t too many events related to Japanese culture in this area, so this is a good opportunity to get to know that cultural aspect, she said.

Sunshine said he enjoys Rakugo because he likes seeing people laugh about experiences and stories that are hundreds of years old. It’s amazing to translate something learned from masters past, and have people hearing the stories and laugh at them thousands of miles away in places like Toronto, Pullman and London.

“I love it when audiences are splitting their sides laughing,” Sunshine said. “There are not too many comic art forms that can be translated into any language and still be as fun.”

Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo show will be from 5:30 – 6:45 p.m. tonight at the Jones Theatre in Daggy Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.