My friend recently told me about this AMAZING website by the Library of Congress where you can browse and even download images of Japanese fine prints before 1915.

I assume that people who visit my website are already interested in the Japanese culture, so I thought that it might of interest to you.

Here’s the link for Fine Prints: Japanese, pre-1915 Collection.

I personally found that the easiest way to browse is to go into the “Slideshow” mode (select under the drop-down menu and click “GO”).

Enjoy!

Daylight Saving is ending this weekend… on April Fool’s Day.

As I consider numerous prank opportunities, I am reminded that my first solo performance is looming up on 12 April!!!

As such, I am currently looking for places to hone my skills leading up to the performance.  I was wondering if any of you awesome readers know of places that would give me opportunities to perform in the next few weeks.

I especially love performing at high schools and libraries, but Japanese restaurants might benefit from having me.

There is no guarantee, but I would probably be able to bring 10-20 extra customers to your restaurant, and I do not charge a cent at the moment.  How about a free Rakugo show on a quiet day at your venue?

I have indeed found a producer, and he will (hopefully!) start managing me from next year… So this free performance deal will not last very long!

Whew, I have to be a sales person to sell free stuff, and I have found it quite challenging so far.  I wouldn’t make a good real estate agent.

Let me know if you know someone who is interested!

Today marks a new beginning in my Rakugo journey!

I finally got to perform Rakugo at a local high school.

I had the privilege of sharing Rakugo with Year 11 and Year 13 Japanese language classes.

Even though the Rakugo story itself was in English, I used as much Japanese as possible to help their language learning.

The students were so welcoming, and I was especially impressed by their near-perfect pronunciation in Japanese.

They are really fortunate to have such an amazing teacher!

One of the highlights was when I was asked to improvise a short “Doraemon Rakugo”!

Doraemon is one of the most popular cartoons in Japan, and it has been on air since 1973, a few years longer than my entire life!

We realised that all the students in the class had known the cartoon, and the teacher dared me to perform it 😉

As an improviser, I couldn’t resist!

I attempted and failed miserably (very much expected), but we definitely had fun… at my expense!

Looking forward to the next one!