The enjoyable English RAKUGO stage with kindness in Yokkaichi

The third OKEY-DOKEY YOSE was held on Sunday, March 10, 2013, in Mie prefecture. The organizer, Kanta-san, gave me a chance to sit the stage.

Almost 70 people came all the way to enjoy our RAKUGO stories.

Kanta-san and I took an English RAKUGO workshop produced by Katsura Sunshine-san. There was no chance to keep in touch with each other for a few years right after the workshop, though, one yose held last year gifted us a chance to do it. Ever since, I’ve been a member of okey-dokey yose.
*yose is a Japanese word, which is a bit technical and has several meanings. It can be regarded as a stage, a theater like a vaudeville for Japanese traditional performance, a show.

Kanta-san also invited four other rakugo storytellers(unfortunately, one storyteller wasn’t available because of his business) from Osaka this time, who had performed at the previous okey-dokey yose. Koito-san, Ringo-san, Toyo-san, they are great rakugo performers and brought the audience burst into laughter with their stories. I was able to savor the atmosphere in the hall except when Toyo-san told his story because each storytellr had to wait for the turn outside of the hall. Anyway, the laughter I heard through the walls was sure to show the success of this show.

Shishikai, ‘Buying wild boar meat’, was what I showed at the stage. Here’s the quick rundown. A man who wanted to get fresh wild boar meat for his health. He decided to go to Mt.Takao and visit a famous hunter in order to get fresh wild boar meat. He finally met the hunter and asked for meat. The hunter showed off a wild boar that he had shot at the previous day, but the man didn’t think the boar was fresh. The man asked the hunter to go to a mountain to hunt a boar with him. The hunter and he found wild boars at the mountain and the hunter tried to shoot them. Would the hunter make it and the man obtain fresh wild boar?

I hope all the audience enjoyed my story. No. I am sure they did. Their smile that I could see from the stage definitely encouraged me to play my story with joy. I really thank them for their smile.

Let me show another appreciation for some people: the members of E4, the English study group in Yokkaichi, Mie. They voluntarily got together at the venue a few hours before the show and arranged the stage without troubles. Without their help and support, the show would have fallen apart. What’s more, they all were so considerate and always have smiles. I was amazed with the air they had. I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of the members for their support and smile.

Take a look at me telling my RAKUGO story.

After the show. From left, Toyo-san, Ringo-san, Koito-san, Kanta-san, me.