Category: Life

[Updates] What’s Up With Eishi?

On By Kanariya EishiIn Digital Rakugo, Life, Māori, Notice, UpdatesLeave a comment

Hi all, hope everything is well with you!

Here in New Zealand, Matariki (Māori New Year) is fast-approaching, and I am super excited to attend various events that are already being held throughout Auckland.

As Matariki symbolises a new beginning, I have decided to turn my life around as it hasn’t been super easy for the last few months… here’re some updates!

1. Change My Approach to Rakugo

I have to admit, I have been quite egotistical about my rakugo, and I haven’t asked my supporters what YOU want to see in my rakugo work.

Sure, it is one way of doing rakugo to be staunch about what I do, but it is not my style especially when rakugo hasn’t taken off as much as I want in New Zealand or the rest of the world (outside of Japan).

So it is time to listen to you!

Please do comment here or on one of my SNS so I can repent my self-centred approach to rakugo 😁 Your opinions matter to me!

2. REVIVING My YouTube Channel

As some of you know, I have been suffering from a frozen shoulder and nerve pains from a back injury that I had while travelling in Japan a few months ago. Thank you for your concern😊- I am getting better, but the huge problem is that… I cannot sit in the seiza position for longer than 15-20 minutes.

In order to do a public performance, I need to be able to do seiza for at least 60-75 minutes, but this is not possible at the moment.

So… I have decided to revive the channel as this is a form of expression that I can easily do even with my current restrictions.

Please follow my channel if you would like to support me. Just one click away!

3. Storytelling Group

As I mentioned in another post, one of my dreams has always been to produce storytelling performances curating stories from all over the world including my art, rakugo.

In the past, I’d had several attempts to do this, even involving my producer friend, but it never came true.

My current physical restrictions reminded me of this long-term dream, and this is something I’d like to make it happen soon!

4. Māori Learning

I have finally finished all the Māori courses at my Wānanga (Māori university)! This is just the beginning. My learning continues!

5. Online Shop

I have opened an online shop. If you are interested!

This is it for now.

Thank you for your continued support!

Home Sweet Home Oiso No.2 [Tōkōin Temple 東光院]

On By Kanariya EishiIn Japanese Culture, Japanese History, Life, RandomLeave a comment

I have to say that one of the highlights from my recent Japan trip was Tōkōin Temple (東光院) in my hometown, Oiso.

Mind you, I am not at all a religious person.

I only visited this temple to pay respect to my uncle who passed on during the pandemic, but this temple really blew my mind and showed me what it is to adapt our old traditions to this ever-changing world.

As you would know, not taking off your shoes to enter a Japanese house is a cardinal sin.

If I’m allowed to be a bit passive aggressive right now, each time my NZ European family members and friends walk into my house with their shoes on, I’m internally very, VERY cross! (Now you know!)

This cultural rule is upheld even more strictly at places of worship such as shrines, temples, and even some churches in Japan.

But, as you can see in one of the pictures above (“Keep your shoes on” sign), this temple broke this sacred cultural law to make the sanctuary barrier free for the elderly and people with disability (you need to bend down to remove your shoes, which is hard for them).

I was born and raised in Japan and spent about 21 years of my life there, but it was the very first time to visit a temple that allows you to keep your shoes on… in the sanctuary!!!

They also removed tatami mattresses and placed chairs in the sanctuary so that people don’t have to sit in the seiza position. It is a seiza-free temple!!!

I don’t know any other temple that does this. Please comment below if you know any other temple like this one in Japan… This is that rare!

But what really surprised me doesn’t end here.

This temple has a cozy community space with a library which is completely open to the public- anyone can just walk in and use it to study, to work, up to you.

When my family entered the space, there were a lot of after-school primary school students, reading manga, playing games together, or doing homework.

Then joined one of the monks (who once was a boxer!), and they all started watching the Final of 2023 World Baseball Classic together!

As you may know, Japan beat US and won the championship this year 😁

Did I say that the temple also provides tea, coffee, hot lemon drink, and sometimes even snacks free of charge.

If you want to have some quiet time to meditate, there is space available, too, where you can do sutra copying (写経) or “shabutsu” (写仏), which is a meditative practice to trace pictures of Buddha and other Buddhist deities.

My son was really amused by the tracing activity and completed it in a few minutes- though it’s supposed to be done very slowly to contemplate.

The temple also works closely with doctors, nurses, social workers, psychotherapists to offer free help for those who cannot afford these kinds of services themselves.

They invite academics to do open lectures on non-Buddhist subjects like economics as well.

There are even more radical things they do, but I’ll stop here to not to bore you!

My learning from their adaptability is that traditional arts such as rakugo also have to keep evolving, adapting themselves to the time, here and now. I have to say this temple is way ahead of the world of rakugo.

Home Sweet Home Oiso No.1

On By Kanariya EishiIn Japanese Culture, Japanese History, Life, Random, Trivia3 Comments

It’s 4:30AM.

Someone is making loud scraping noise right outside of our bedroom.

I peek through the curtains…

It’s a surfer, busily applying wax on his surfboard.

Then, I realise- I’m back home in Oiso!

My hometown, which is located 70km to the west of Tokyo, perhaps is one of the Top 10 destinations for the Japanese surfers.

The number of surfers per capita is abnormally high, and in summer the main beach literally gets filled with local and visiting surfers. It’s like the Shibuya Station crossing if you know what I mean.

Naturally, the town is full of the outdoor types, hippies, creatives and plain weirdos (like myself).

It’s a historical town, too, that once hosted 2 ex-Japanese Prime Ministers and 6 other PM’s who had their holiday homes there.

Some of you history-buffs may know that it was one of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

The Japanese literary giant, Toson Shimazaki, lived in Oiso, too, and Haruki Murakami still has one of his houses there (he’s rich).

I realised that I am describing it like a utopia, but it’s really a sleepy little town with a population of around 30,000 people. Most Japanese would just bypass right through unless they are surfers or history fans.

But to me this is my home, and I have a lot to talk about!

In the next few blog entries, I will be sharing about this town that only the locals know, including its local legends and folklores.

My back and shoulder are not doing great at the moment, so I’ll stop here for now.

See you next time!

Farewell to Aoteya Rakugo Club

On By Kanariya EishiIn Life, Notice, Updates2 Comments

With a very heavy heart, the Aoteya Rakugo Club has closed its doors due to the lack of interest and participation as of today.

Now that the Covid restrictions are gone, the members’ priorities and commitments have changed- some taking up new jobs and responsibilities, and others training for the national wall climbing championships!!!

I would like to thank the Auckland Council, Onehunga Community Centre, and all the staff who have helped us along the way. Without your supports, we would’ve never survived for the last 3 years. Thank you so very much!!!

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you, all the current and past members of the club, for the last 3 years. All the very best for your endeavours!!!

Meanwhile, this man can only think about rakugo that he will keep following his path- a boring man he is!

May our paths cross once again someday!

Best regards,

Kanariya Eishi

Farewell to Thich Nhat Hanh

On By Kanariya EishiIn Life, Random, Uncategorized, UpdatesLeave a comment

On 22 January 2022, another beautiful soul has departed from this world.

Since my teenage years, this great zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, has been one of my spiritual role models along with Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu.

Even though he was probably less known compared to the other figures that I listed above, he was the quiet presence and the solid foundation in promoting nonviolent solution to conflict and deep ecology throughout the world.

He was one of the most prominent peace activists to end the Vietnam War that claimed the lives of over 1.3 million people. He believed in complete nonviolence, and he was the very person who encouraged Martin Luther King Jr. to publicly denounce and question the US involvement in the Vietnam War.

King himself nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.

He was a true man of peace, and I respected and adored him so much as a human being.

In the letter of condolence from the Dalai Lama, he concluded his letter as follows:

I have no doubt the best way we can pay tribute to him is to continue his work to promote peace in the world.

I cannot agree with him more.

His passing gave me a renewed courage to take my small part in making the world a better place.

I don’t see why we have to say “I will die,” because I can already see myself in you, in other people, and in future generations.

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926- 2022)

Photo Attribution

Duc (pixiduc) from Paris, France., CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Eishi’s New Year’s Resolutions 2022!

On By Kanariya EishiIn Life, Notice, UpdatesLeave a comment

My resolutions this year will be a bit different from usual, but bear with me for the next 500 words or so.

As of today, I am unemployed.

See? It’s already a bit different 😁

Anyway…

All performers in the world work on a project basis. Unless you are a Hollywood powerhouse actor, most of us often write, rehearse, and perform without a guarantee of income or recognition, scraping through barely making ends meet.

I am used to this roller-coaster lifestyle, but the difference this year, thanks to Mr. Delta and Mrs. Omicron, is that I have literally no income-generating project lined up as of today.

Now… I find this situation quite intriguing!

The silver lining is that I can truly empathise and walk along with people who have lost their jobs and businesses due to the grumpy spiky couple aka Mr. D and Mrs. O.

Sure, I may have to take up a day job or moonlight, but I have this rootless sense of hope that from here onward it will be up and up! 😁

With this in mind, here are my goals for this year:

1. Treat my own life as a big joke and document my journey

Good rakugo performers and comedians know that their own lives are the best sources of comedy. They know how to make people laugh at the expense of their own tragedies, so why not?

I’ll be open about my temporary joblessness and document how I eventually get out of this situation so that I can hopefully walk along with and give courage to people in a similar situation as mine.

2. Write as many original rakugo stories as possible

With the recent passing of Sanyutei Enjo III (三代目 三遊亭 圓丈), the godfather of Shinsaku Rakugo* (新作落語) on 30 November 2021, I was inspired to start producing more original stories.

As some of you may remember from my last year’s resolutions, I have already written some stories based on Edogawa Ranpo‘s mystery novels and fairytales by the Brothers Grimm, but I am still trying to figure out how to present them- the mystery rakugo being too long while the fairytale rakugo being too short for stage…

Meanwhile, I have finished translating a rakugo story into Māori (Jugemu). Once I completed 2 or 3 more stories, I will find a cultural adviser and a Māori translator so that I can work with them to create something that is respectful to te ao Māori (the Māori world/ worldview). Hopefully, I will make some progress in this area this year, too.

* New/ original rakugo as opposed to classical rakugo (古典落語). Shinsaku rakugo literally means “newly written rakugo”.

3. Become a Laughter Yoga Leader

As some of you may know, I am a Laughter Yoga enthusiast. It has helped my family stay happy and healthy through this pandemic, and I would like to be certified as a Laughter Yoga leader this year!

I will definitely be talking more about the benefits of laughter here!

Laughter Yoga, by the way, is a health exercise and NOT affiliated with any religion.

4. Continue with my Māori Full-Immersion Journey

Last year, I completed my first year of Te Ataarangi (Māori Full-Immersion) programme. Oh boy, it was super challenging and I thought of discontinuing my journey so many times last year, but I have decided to continue on to the advanced level this year.

These are my goals for now.

I don’t know when I can get back to stage yet. Being a one-person gig without a regular producer, it is still too risky for me to produce shows. Schools and other organisations haven’t invited me back yet.

So everything is unclear and unwritten at this stage.

Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten would be a great BGM for me right now.

Oh, so much freedom, and I feel alive!!!

To life!!! 🥂