rakugo – Only In Japan

Fishing For Women

Of all the rakugo performances I’ve seen, Fishing For Women is my fave. It’s got great characters, including a guy who’s more of a nightmare than the worst Tinder story you’ve ever heard! THE CHARACTERS In this story, a nice old fisherman is visited by a beautiful ghost, but the dateless wonder next door has other ideas… And then…! If you watch the video,Continue reading “Fishing For Women”

Tomb Of The Untold Stories

Here lie the funniest Japanese stories ever told. Or so they say, because when it was decided in 1941 that tales of wayward sons in the red light district, mistress mishaps and too much saké were inappropriately funny for wartime, the famous rakugo performers who buried them under this slab vowed the stories would never beContinue reading “Tomb Of The Untold Stories”

Sit Down Stand Up

One day last fall, as I was walking through Yoyogi Park on my way to fall off the slackline, I saw this guy standing by a tree in a vaguely medieval-looking costume. In America I’d have hustled by, careful to make ZERO eye contact, sure he was either a member of a rabidly proselytizing religious cultContinue reading “Sit Down Stand Up”