Tag: Rakugo

Social Media Dilemma

On By Kanariya EishiIn Life, Notice, Random, Updates4 Comments

It’s been 8 months since I closed my Twitter/ X account.

The platform was getting filled up with hate speech, misinformation, and trolls, and I no longer wanted to be a cog for the billionaire’s virtual playground where I was one of his products.

But… I have to admit that I later regretted my decision when my account was completely swiped off the system. I really felt, then, that regardless of all the cons, what mattered the most was the real people on the other side of the digital sinkhole.

I almost felt guilty that I chose my dislike of the platform over the real people who I knew in real life and those who I’d possibly meet in the unforeseen future.

Having said that, it’s time to move on.

The problem with X was that a single powerful person (or an egomaniac?) dominated the entire platform. Unfortunately, this could potentially happen to all other centralised platforms including Meta-owned sites like Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or even WhatsApp, which means pretty much all the major platforms in the world.

However, as a true “indie of indies”, I cannot do without SNS to share my work as a rakugo performer, and this has been a huge dilemma to me.

In an ideal world, I’d rather meet and chat with people face-to-face rather than only connecting with them virtually. But I’ve been told by my producer and actor friends that I must keep at least one major platform, which according to them is Instagram, Facebook, or X. In fact, one of the recent contracts that I signed said, I have an obligation to share the event that I’m involved in at least 3 times via my SNS, so I literally can’t get rid of them ๐Ÿ˜

Then, enters the Fediverse concept.

I don’t fully understand it, but it’s basically a collection of social networking sites that can communicate with each other, therefore not bound by one single individual or company unlike other platforms.

In Fediverse, you can move around between platforms. So even if you close down your current account, you can take it with you to another platform.

WordPress, Mastodon, and Bluesky probably are the most famous ones, but recently Threads (half-) entered the Fediverse.

It seems like some instances (or servers) have rejected to connect with Meta-owned Threads as it might interfere with their internet freedom. I don’t really know enough about the consequences of their participation, but we’ll see.

But for now, to look ahead for the future, it’d make sense for me to stick with platforms in the Fediverse.

You are most likely to find my latest news and thoughts on Mastodon and Threads… for the time being.

R.I.P. Katsura Zakoba II

On By Kanariya EishiIn LifeLeave a comment

I have just learned about the passing of another great rakugo master, Katsura Zakoba II.

According to JiJi Press, he passed away due to his asthma yesterday (Wednesday 12 June 2024).

He was one of my favourite performers of all time, and I loved his warm-hearted AND hilarious rakugo so much.

As some of you may know, he has his relatives in New Zealand, and his entire rakugo family once visited here to entertain the Japanese community in Auckland. It seems like the Japanese Kiwi singer, JAY’ED, is his nephew, so perhaps through this connection he decided to produce the show.

This performance was broadcast in Japan. I was laughing so uncontrollably that the TV cameraman caught me, and some of my relatives saw me on TV and contacted me, saying, “I saw you laughing hard out!”.

It was how good he was and how happy he could make people around him.

I was your huge fan, Shisho!

Hope you are having fun catching up with other masters who have already passed on!

Superstitious Japanese: Luckiest Days of the Year

On By Kanariya EishiIn Educational, Japanese Culture, Life, Random, TriviaLeave a comment

I have to say that Japanese are superstitious.

I have a large stack of the lucky charms that my dear mother in Japan have sent me over the last 20 plus years.

We avoid numbers like 4 and 9 because 4 (ๅ›› shi) rhymes with death (ๆญป shi) while 9 (ไน ku) rhymes with suffering (่‹ฆ ku).

When I turned 44, my mum sent me heaps of lucky charms to ward off bad luck. I can predict that I’ll be bombarded with some more lucky charms when I turn 49 next year.

Having said that, I grew up more of a cynical sceptic, taking after my dad.

So I thought, but I recently realised that I am actually both sceptic and superstitious- just like the rest of Japan.

Most of us say that we are non-religious, but we love visiting shrines, temples, and even churches and vaguely believe in the unseen world. We are not atheists as some westerners say.

Since I started learning about the traditional Mฤori calendar called maramataka, I’ve got really curious about our own traditional calendar, and I’ve been learning about it for the last few months.

First, look at the Japanese calendar of this month (June 2024) below. Most of our calendars tell us the luck of each day.

For example, 24th June 2024 is a Taian (ๅคงๅฎ‰), one of the luckiest days, and many Japanese weddings are held on a Taian.

On the other hand, 17th June 2024 is a Butsumetsu (ไปๆป…), and it’s the unluckiest day in Japanese calendar. Most couples avoid this day to get married.

As I grew up, I’d always thought Taian was the luckiest day, but I have recently learned that there are luckier days in the year.

It is called Tenshanichi (ๅคฉ่ตฆๆ—ฅ ใฆใ‚“ใ—ใ‚ƒใซใก), which only happens 5-6 times a year. It is believed that all the gods rise up to the heavens and forgive all the sins of people on this day.

When Taian and Tenshanichi overlap, it is even more auspicious.

There is another lucky day called Ichiryumanbaibi (ไธ€็ฒ’ไธ‡ๅ€ๆ—ฅ ใ„ใกใ‚Šใ‚…ใ†ใพใ‚“ใฐใ„ใณ), which literally means โ€œthe day one seed turns into 10,000 seedsโ€.

It is a good day to start a new project.

What’s UP with Eishi? [May 2024]

On By Kanariya EishiIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hi all,

Long time no see! Hope all is well with you and your loved ones ๐Ÿ˜Š

First of all, any decent correspondence by a Japanese person must begin with a good solid apology.

I am sorry for my long hiatus in the virtual space! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…

NOTE: When a Japanese person speaks in English, “sorry” is usually repeated at least twice up to 4 times (don’t you agree with me?)

Now I am talking absolute nonsense… but I had a long break from my SNS (except for DMs) after I closed my Twitter to stay away from negative news and also because I didn’t have much to report to.

Now I have a few interesting projects going, I thought it’d be a good timing for an update.

UPDATE 1: English Rakugo in Tokyo

My master invited me to perform rakugo in Tokyo (Asakusa) in December, so I’m going to perform there at the end of the year. Keep an eye out for this blog and/ or my SNS.

UPDATE 2: Another Project with Fiona Amundsen

As you may know, I have had a privilege of working with an artist, Fiona Amundsen, for the last few years. Our works have been exhibited at art galleries and festivals in Finland, New Zealand, and Japan.

She’s kindly invited me again for another project, this time along with a well-known author. We had our first meeting at my favourite French cafe a few weeks ago.

UPDATE 3: School Visits

I have resumed school visits. In order to test the updated contents of my workshops, I have decided to visit 5 schools/ libraries free of charge. It will include my new favourite story called “Licking a Kettle” (ใ‚„ใ‹ใ‚“ใชใ‚) ๐Ÿ˜

I have committed myself to 3 organisations so far, 2 more to go. If you are interested, please contact me asap- first come, first served!

UPDATE 4: Finished Translation Project

As some of you know, I have been translating a Japanese story called ‘The Restaurant of Many Orders’ (ๆณจๆ–‡ใฎๅคšใ„ๆ–™็†ๅบ—) by Kanji Miyazawa into Te Reo Mฤori. It has been submitted to a publisher to be considered for publication, and I heard back from them!!!

The short answer is… it is not going to be published, BUT it was due to the story itself being too simple and also not very relatable to the Mฤori audience. I was happy and humbled to hear that the lack of my language command was not the reason. In fact, the publisher kindly suggested me to try translating another story and recommended me to submit the same work to another publisher/ competition ๐Ÿ˜Š

A small step forward to accomplishing my dream to connect Te Ao Hapanihi and Te Reo Mฤori directly, completely bypassing Te Ao Pฤkehฤ (no offence!).

Goodbye Twitter!

On By Kanariya EishiIn Notice, Uncategorized, UpdatesLeave a comment

After long thought, I have finally decided to say goodbye to my favourite SNS, Twitter… or whatever you call it.

I was a big Twitter fan and used it as my main SNS platform since the early days of my English Rakugo career in New Zealand. It was there that I met many invaluable friends who have inspired and encouraged me to carry on this rather lonely journey. For this, I am eternally thankful to you all!

This decision was made largely due to the new owner of the platform and the increasingly divisive contents that people post on the once-friendlier space (I am also guilty of occasionally posting progressive left posts myself, though! ๐Ÿ˜).

So… Threads, Instagram, and Facebook will be my SNS platforms from now on. I like the Twitter format, so Threads will probably be my main platform. Sorry Mastodon, I’ve tried, but I still don’t know how it works…

Home Sweet Home Oisoย No.2 [Tลkลin Temple ๆฑๅ…‰้™ข]

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 Tลkลin Temple (ๆฑๅ…‰้™ข) 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 ๐Ÿ˜

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 (ๅ†™็ตŒ) or “shabutsu” (ๅ†™ไป), 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.