Let's make a rakugo with Yamato Katsura!

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dates‍

2023/10/21 (Sat) 14:00-16:00

venues‍

Tosoh Arena & Shobudo Bunko Yamagata Hall
2-1-3 Zao Matsugaoka, Yamagata 990-2338

lecturers　Katsura Yamato

What is the summaryHere
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On this day, Yamagata was just starting to get cold, and there was already little traffic from Yamagata Station, and the area around the venue, which is 20 minutes by bus from the station, was also quiet.
Meanwhile, quite active families participated in this project with the theme of “rakugo,” and I learned that the tension was rising due to the excitement of expectations even before it started.
At the start, Master Katsura Yamato, who appeared on the high seat, will first explain the basic structure of rakugo. For example, it is an art where one person wearing a kimono talks while sitting. Also, I will carefully explain how to use only fans and washcloths as props so that even first-time viewers of rakugo can understand it. I actually expressed something with a fan or washcloth, and when I asked the children in the audience to answer what it represented, everyone got it right.
Then, even though it's a “fan” and a “washcloth,” they ask the children again why they look like a “brush” or “book,” and here the master complains that “imagination” is necessary to watch rakugo.

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Furthermore, speaking of rakugo, they generously give lectures on a familiar art, “a place to eat soba.” While explaining how to make it look like that, the whole audience sipped soba. They teach me that in order to perform this kind of performance well, it is important to observe people around you closely on a regular basis.
There were also a small number of participants on this day, so children were also given the experience of putting on a coat and sitting on a high seat. This is probably not the case, so I'm sure it was an intensely memorable experience for the kids.

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After explaining the structure of rakugo up to this point, the master will show you a short story in one seat. Perhaps because they understood how to look at rakugo, I was able to understand that the children were also intrigued and looked forward to it.

Once the story is over, the next step is to solicit ideas from the children and try to think about the continuation of the story. The only setting where the main character goes shopping has been decided, and they are soliciting what they want to buy from children. They were pretty aggressive kids, so more and more creative opinions came up, and their master wrote them on the whiteboard. After this, after a break, the master thinks about the continuation of the story incorporating opinions from the children and shows it off.

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Before continuing the story, I had one more work to do. It's about making your own noise.
In the story, it is told that there is a scene of riding a horse and a scene where it rains, and the tools for making the sound of horses running and rain falling are explained. Horses make a hoof sound just by putting the bowl down and hitting it on the cutting board, but crafting is necessary when it's raining. By attaching beads (balls) to the octopus string with tape to the fan and shaking them sideways, it certainly made a sound that felt like rain hit the ground. By doing that with a few people, it's a pretty realistic scene.

Now that the preparations are ready, the master's story will finally begin. The continuation of the story was shown looking forward to seeing how the ideas collected from the children earlier would be reflected.
On the way, in the scene where the horse came out, the boy in charge expressed running with a bowl, and when it started raining, the children and parents all made the sound of rain. The story, which also included ideas from the participants, was beautifully completed, with beautiful “pigtails.”

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Finally, my mentor sent a passionate message to the children, saying that what is important in their future lives and what is necessary for a way of life that I think was a good life is “imagination,” and that they want them to become people who can imagine people's feelings about what their partner thinks. The project ended when a warm theme was conveyed to the participants, saying that people who were able to laugh at rakugo already have imagination, and I want them to cherish it.
The number of participants was small, but it was a very valuable experience for the children, and I think it was a wonderful opportunity to receive memorable messages.

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Report: Fukunaga Mitsuhiro