With the recent announcement of a Star Wars Kabuki play I thought it was time to finally revisit my thoughts on Shōwa Rakugo Genroku Shinju because there both Japanese performance arts related and I had no better ideas to write about today. A cursory reading of Britannica articles on the history of various different theater types to emerge from Japan proved interesting. In addition to Kabuki and Rakugo there are other kinds such as Noh. These descended from types of plays performed at temples and have centuries of tradition and memorization to them. Passed down from one generation to the next.
Showa Rakugo often discusses the dying art of rakugo itself and the the steeper competition which comes as more entertainment methods and technologies are introduced. To me at least this in itself was the most compelling part of the show. It reminded me of prose and how it’s also going into the background more and more as more visual narrative forms continue to be introduced. No deeper meaning to any of this just passing thoughts pondered.
Comicedy 