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Jacob Barss-Bailey some rights reserved. flickr

Rakugo is the traditional Japanese art form of comic storytelling.

It has over 300 years of history.

To make it easier to imagine what it is, I would say it’s like between stand-up comedy and solo comic skit.

The story teller, rakugo-ka, dressed in a nice kimono and seated on a zabuton (cushion), tells funny stories with expressions and gestures.

Although, the story tellers use sensu (hand-held fan) and tenugui (Japanese hand towel) as props, they don’t use any other props for the stages.

The classic rakugo stories were made a few centuries ago, and they are still played by the present rakugo-ka.

The stories have wit and quaint; therefore, not so many young people go see rakugo.

Most of the rakugo fans are older people, so rakugo-ka are making effort to bring more young audiences to the theaters.

This is JAPAN Style!

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