Author: Kanariya Eishi

English Rakugo performer and actor based in NZ. A full-time rebel with common sense. A lover of art, books, comedy, Japanese culture/ language, music, peace, positivity, theatre, and trivia. Idealistic, but ain't no saint. 鹿鳴家英志（本名：中辻拓志）。ニュージーランドを拠点とする役者・英語落語パフォーマー。アメリカへの演劇留学をきっかけに、気付くと海外滞在20年。現在ニュージーランドに永住中。アメリカの4大卒業後は日本で英会話講師を経験、その後ニュージーランドの高校教師資格を取得する。ニュージーランドでは英語にてスタンダップコメディーを行い、2005年ニュージーランド国際コメディーフェスティバルの新人大会にて全国優勝を果たす。その後、テレビドラマ、CM等に出演、テレビのレポーターも勤める。

What You Learn at Aoteya Rakugo Club

On By Kanariya EishiIn UpdatesLeave a comment

As I reported in another article, the first and only rakugo club in Aotearoa (marketing, marketing, marketing!) has just resumed its activities after a long break due to the Covid crisis.

For those who didn’t know… which could include our establishing members… the official name of our club is Aoteya Rakugo Club.

We used to meet at the historical cottage in Albert Park in Auckland CBD, but we have relocated ourselves to Onehunga aka Eishi’s hood.

Even though we had 7 participants in the first meeting and it was a great start, I’m planning to increase our membership up to 15-20 (I will probably cut off after that).

We are looking for non-performing members as well, so you are welcome to join us as an observer and/ or a supporter of our activities.

It is free to join at this stage, thanks to the Auckland Council!!! Funding is due to its popularity, so please spread the word to keep offering this programme for free!!!

I am writing this to tell you what kind of things you can learn through this club. My sessions will cover the following:

  • Rakugo history
  • Rakugo techniques (distinguishing characters, props, etc.)
  • Memory techniques
  • Kimono knowledge (there will be a field trip to a Japanese antique shop to purchase kimono; cheap ones cost less than $20)
  • Characterisation unique to this tradition
  • Storytelling in general (not only bound by rakugo)
  • Writing and/ or translating rakugo scripts
  • Japanese culture in general (and also learn from different cultures)

You may have noticed, but we learn some unusual things like memory techniques, translation, and different forms of storytelling.

Over the years of working as an actor and a rakugo performer, I have learned some good memory techniques, which have freed up a lot of my time to learn scripts, and I will share them with you! I am very much into neuroscience and psychology, so my methods are evidence based 🙂

I once worked a translator, so I can help you with the translation of rakugo scripts as well.

Hope to see you there!

DATES: 2:00PM-4:00PM, every other Saturday: 14 Nov, 28 Nov, 12 Dec 2020

PLACE: Maungakiekie Room, Onehunga Community Centre (83 Church Street).  You can come in from Church Street (library entrance) and go downstairs. It is the first room on the left.

RSVP required!!!

Eishi’s Rakugo Commentary No.2 [Jugemu 寿限無]

On By Kanariya EishiIn Digital Rakugo, Japanese Culture, Japanese History, Rakugo Commentary, Trivia3 Comments

[The recording of this story is at the bottom of this post.]

Jugemu (寿限無) probably is one of the best-known rakugo stories in Japan along with Time Noodles (時そば) and Scary Manju (まんじゅうこわい).

It is also one of my favourite stories to perform for people who are new to rakugo.

This tale is about this Japanese boy who had an unnecessarily long name, which would cause all sorts of problems. I am very glad that my name is NOT…

Jugemu jugemu
Gokouno surikire
Kaijari suigyono
Suigyoumatsu unraimatsu furaimatsu
Kuneru tokoroni sumutokoro
Yaburakoujino burakouji
Paipo paipo paipono shuringan
Shuringan no gurindai
Gurindai no ponpokopi no ponpokona no
Chokyumei no chosuke

(*There are some different variations.)

The exact origin of this story is unclear as its basic structure appears in many books and folktales.

The prototype of this story is found in Shasekishu (沙石集) or “Sand and Pebbles”, which was a collection of Buddhist parables compiled by a monk called Muju (無住) in 1283.

It was widespread, and the same concept can be found in Kyogen and a traditional lullaby from Shinano Azumigouri Yamato Village (信濃安曇郡倭村).

One of the scary variations I have heard of before is that Jugemu drowns because his name was a bit too long…

Just like the original Grimms’ Fairy Tales, some stories became un-PC, so they have been rewritten over time as rakugo is not only a traditional art but a popular art at the same time.

(My Jugemu might be more appropriate to be called “New Zealand Jugemu”! 😁)

References

落語手帖　矢野誠一

沙石集

Rakugo Club in Onehunga Report #1

On By Kanariya EishiIn Updates1 Comment

Hi all, how have you been? Hope everything’s well with you all!

So… our rakugo club has finally resumed its activities after a long break due to the Covid crisis and relocated ourselves in Onehunga!

We had 7 participants including myself, and we had the most memorable new beginning with two special guests, one with a smiley face and the other with a cat face.

If you have been following my blog, you might have guessed, but they are the “rakugo masters” whom I introduced here a while ago.

They came back!!!

In yukata (a casual summer kimono) and ready to perform!!!

This is how this dream gig took place.

The night before, their mother e-mailed me saying that their older daughter had just performed “Jugemu” in front of her class for the Culture Day at her school. She obviously taught herself the entire story and actually performed it!

This was literally the best thing that’s ever happened in my rakugo career!

I somehow inspired this little girl to love and even perform rakugo in public!

When they started coming to my shows, I initially thought it was just a temporary thing, but it’s been a few years now.

So… I told her mum that the rakugo club is resuming the next day.

She hadn’t known anything about it but e-mailed me at the most perfect timing!

The girls showed up, completely ready to perform, and…

WOW, the older girl performed Jugemu almost perfectly!!!

The little one also recited the name of Jugemu for us.

I couldn’t believe they taught themselves by watching rakugo on YouTube!!!

We were all mesmerised and inspired by their performances!!!

They are planning to come back to the club whenever they can 🙂

I am very excited about the future of rakugo in New Zealand!!!

Secrets Hidden in Japanese Names

On By Kanariya EishiIn Educational, Japanese Culture, Japanese HistoryLeave a comment

One of the most common questions I get asked while living overseas is what my real name Hiroshi means.

My usual answer is something like, “Hiroshi could mean many different things, but my name means to ‘break through life with ambition’.”

As you wise readers may know, the meaning of a Japanese name is not determined by its sound but the kanji or Chinese characters used in the name.

In the old days in Japan, most people didn’t bother spending hours referring to the ancient myths or fortune tellers to come up with the perfect names for their precious babies.

The first sons/ daughters often had a kanji character “一” (one) in their names. The second children “二” (two), the third “三” (three), and so on.

My grandpa was the third son of the family, so his name was “三都彦” (Mitsuhiko). As you can see, the kanji “三” (three) is used.

Two of the superstar characters in rakugo are Hachigoro (八五郎) and Kumagoro (熊五郎).

You may have noticed, but the kanji character “五” (five) is used in both of their names.

That’s right. They were probably the fifth sons of the family.

So… what does this imply?

In the past, the first sons were the sole heirs of the family unless there were special reasons why they couldn’t act as the head of the family.

Inevitably, they received preferential treatments from their family and were sometimes even spoiled by their parents and relatives.

However, the second sons onward were just the supporting acts for the first sons.

What usually happened in the countryside in particular was to send non-heir sons to Edo (Tokyo), Osaka, or other large cities so that they would find their own means of supporting themselves.

So the names Hachigoro and Kumagoro imply that they were sort of outcasts whom their families probably didn’t care much about.

Rakugo is the art of the commoners.

Rakugo performers during the Edo period (1603-1868) did not even belong to the four social classes of the day: samurai warriors, farmers, artisans, and merchants in the order of importance.

In fact, they belong to the “non-human” status.

Rakugo was an interpretation of this world from the rock bottom of the society.

This is what makes rakugo immensely human.

Eishi’s Secret Film Project Revealed!

On By Kanariya EishiIn Digital Rakugo, Goals, Life, Updates4 Comments

How are you all doing? Eishi here AGAIN!

Thanks to my voice issues, I’ve been finding my creative outlet in writing this week. Hope you are not sick of reading my version of War and Peace.

The title today is a…

click bait…

but I am telling you more about the film project that I mentioned in another post.

It is an Asia New Zealand Foundation funded film project, and it will be directed by the dangerously talented film director/ academic extraordinaire, Fiona Amundsen.

This will probably become one of the most important works in my life as a rakugo performer and a human being.

It is all Fiona’s concept, and I just happen to be someone with the knowledge and skills that she needs to complete her project.

As a film director, an aikido practitioner, and a good human being who understands the utter stupidity of war, she came up with a concept to combine the remembrance/ reminder of the mistakes humans committed in WWII, the aikido concept of Zanshin, and the Japanese traditional storytelling of rakugo.

We connected closely especially because of our stance on war, and we have decided to create something that would hopefully show better options for fellow humans.

As some of you may know, I lost my great grandfather and other family members in Nagasaki, and my grandpa and great uncle were both hibakusha.

So I have a very strong reason to get involved in a project like this.

We have just started working together yesterday, so I thought this is a good time to let you know.

For those who want to know more about this project, please read Fiona’s interview. It was written for Tokyo Biennale, but we are trying to create the New Zealand version of this film/ installation.

Booze Drinking Giant Snake

On By Kanariya EishiIn Japanese Culture, Japanese HistoryLeave a comment

Hi all, how’s everything going? Hope things are well over there!

Let’s begin today’s post by addressing the elephant in the room.

The title does sound like an enigmatic phrase on one of those funky Japanese t-shirts… or perhaps a rock band from Tokyo.

English is my second language after all.

Anyway…

Have you ever heard a Japanese person say “You drink a lot! Like a giant snake (uwabami)!” (よく飲むねえ。ウワバミだ。）

This is a rather archaic expression that you often come across in rakugo, but it is still used to playfully describe a person who drinks a lot.

In fact, my sister’s nickname was “Uwabami” when she was at university.

She was (possibly still is) a heavy drinker…

Recently, this expression made me wonder what its origin would be.

When did Japanese people start believing that large snakes drink a lot of alcohol?

The answer lies in the books “Kojiki” (古事記) and “Nihon Shoki” (日本書紀) that recorded our foundation myths.

They are like Genesis in the bible, but there are two books written from different perspectives.

I am sure there are many theories, but I learned at high school that Kojiki was written to educate the commoners about our beginning while Nihon Shoki acted more like an official document for the government.

According to these books, our first recorded giant snake was called Yamata no Orochi (やまたのおろち 八岐大蛇). This monster had eight heads and eight tails. As you can see in the pictures, he could’ve been more like a dragon.

Once a year, this rogue snake appeared and demanded the eight daughters of earthly deities called “Foot-Stroking-Elder”(アシナヅチ 足名椎命) and “Hand-Stroking Elder” (テナヅチ 手名椎命).

Their eight daughters were eaten, one by one, every year.

Now there was only one daughter left.

Then comes our hero Susanoo no Mikoto (スサノオノミコト 須佐之男命).

He was a god who had been kicked out of Heaven for tricking his sister Ameterasu-Ōmikami (天照大御神 あまてらすおおみかみ), the sun goddess of Japan.

Susanoo had an excellent idea!

He decided to take a lot of alcohol for the giant serpent (who probably should’ve dealt with his alcohol issues before too late) to get him drunk before slaying this monster.

His plan worked, and the last daughter of the couple with the unfortunate names survived.

Inside one of the eight tails was a sword called “Kusanagi no Tsurugi” (草薙の剣), which became one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan along with Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡) mirror and Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊勾玉) jewel.

So there you go…

The Japanese expression “Uwabami” (giant snake) comes from the Yamata no Orochi story.

That’s all, really.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Image Attribution

Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年, Japanese, *1839, †1892), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Reference

Yamata no Orochi