INI

Rakugo Program List - INI

Rakugo is a traditional Japanese storytelling art that has continued since the Edo period. A storyteller sits on a cushion and uses a folding fan and hand towel as props to perform multiple characters alone while narrating a story. There are about 300 classical Rakugo programs, including various genres such as humorous stories, human interest stories, and ghost stories. Jugemu, Toki Soba, and Shinigami are particularly famous masterpieces among them.

Rakugo Classical Rakugo Program Traditional Performing Arts Japanese Culture Storyteller

[item.jugemu]
code=01
slug=jugemu
name=Jugemu
description=A masterpiece of wordplay where auspicious words are combined to create an endlessly long name.
duration=10-15 minutes
genre=Humorous Story / Wordplay Story

[item.toki-soba]
code=02
slug=toki-soba
name=Toki Soba
description=A humorous story where a man asks the time at a soba stall and tricks the vendor by mixing it into the bill.
duration=15-20 minutes
genre=Humorous Story

[item.shinigami]
code=03
slug=shinigami
name=Shinigami
description=A ghost story where a man becomes a doctor and makes a fortune with the Shinigami's advice, but eventually has his life candle extinguished.
duration=20-30 minutes
genre=Ghost Story / Human Interest Story

[item.shibahama]
code=04
slug=shibahama
name=Shibahama
description=A human interest story where a fishmonger who loves sake picks up a fortune and lives extravagantly, only to find it was a dream and reforms touched by his wife's kindness.
duration=25-35 minutes
genre=Human Interest Story

[item.bunshichi-moto-yui]
code=05
slug=bunshichi-moto-yui
name=Bunshichi Moto Yui
description=The pinnacle of human interest stories where a plasterer who loves gambling gives his daughter's sale money to a young man about to commit suicide.
duration=30-40 minutes
genre=Human Interest Story

[item.manju-kowai]
code=06
slug=manju-kowai
name=Manju Kowai
description=A humorous story where a man who insists he fears nothing admits 'I am afraid of manju,' and it turns out he tricked others into giving him manju.
duration=10-15 minutes
genre=Humorous Story / Apprentice Story

[item.meguro-no-sanma]
code=07
slug=meguro-no-sanma
name=Meguro no Sanma
description=A satirical story where a lord is impressed by commoners' grilled saury in Meguro but disappointed by the refined saury served at his mansion.
duration=15-20 minutes
genre=Humorous Story / Satirical Story

[item.sokotsu-nagaya]
code=08
slug=sokotsu-nagaya
name=Sokotsu Nagaya
description=A humorous story where careless tenement residents mistake a collapsed person for their friend's corpse, ending with a philosophical punchline.
duration=20-25 minutes
genre=Humorous Story / Tenement Story

[item.doguya]
code=09
slug=doguya
name=Doguya
description=A humorous story where a poor businessman serving at an antique shop gives bizarre responses to customers.
duration=15-20 minutes
genre=Humorous Story

[item.yabu-iri]
code=10
slug=yabu-iri
name=Yabu Iri
description=A touching human interest story depicting the reunion of a taciturn parent and child when the son, who is in service, returns home once a year.
duration=25-35 minutes
genre=Human Interest Story