Rakugo master Utazo Katsura to share traditional Japanese storytelling in English
Tonight, Master Utazo Katsura will perform an English version of Rakugo, a Japanese form of verbal entertainment and storytelling, at Broad Art Center.
Courtesy of NOEL SHIMIZU
Tonight, 4-10 p.m.
Broad Art Center 2160E
By Laurie Allred
Feb. 24, 2012 12:18 a.m.
An actor has to memorize a couple of pages of a script before performing in a scene. A Japanese Rakugo master, on the other hand, has to memorize hundreds of detailed stories before going on stage in front of a live audience to tell a 45-minute story alone.
Rakugo is a type of Japanese verbal entertainment in which a storyteller recites a classic Japanese story, which usually has comedic undertones, in front of an audience. Utazo Katsura, a Rakugo master who performs mostly in Tokyo, Japan, will put on the personae of different characters tonight at Broad Art Center. The event will be sponsored by the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, along with the Japan Foundation and the Rafu Mutsumikai, an L.A. Mikoshi (Portable Shrine) Association, which hosts Japanese entertainment events in Los Angeles.
Although traditional Rakugo is normally performed in Japanese, Katsura will be performing tonight at UCLA in English. Keiko Kadota, Katsura’s current translator, is one of the original members of Rafu Mutsumikai.
Katsura first contacted Rafu Mutsumikai about sponsoring his Rakugo performance in Los Angeles four years ago, and the organization has hosted his performance twice since then.
Kadota said Rakugo is a traditional art form of storytelling.
“There are classic stories: Some are funny, some are heartwarming. (Katsura) wanted to reach out to English-speaking audiences so he created his own style, the English Rakugo,” Kadota said.
After Katsura visited other countries such as Indonesia, he wanted to develop a new style of Rakugo for foreign audiences.
Kadota said since then, Katsura has performed English Rakugo in five other countries, including Vietnam and India.
“I enjoyed English Rakugo overseas much more than Japanese Rakugo. English is the universal language, so all the reactions from the audiences varies (based) on the country,” Katsura said.
According to Kadota, in order to become a master Rakugo artist, one must train for many years to memorize hundreds of stories. Katsura started learning at the age of 27 and has performed Rakugo for the past 20 years.
For a performance, a traditional Rakugo artist dresses in a Japanese kimono and sits down on a stage, using tools to mimic actions during his or her storytelling. A traditional Rakugo artist typically sits down throughout the entire performance.
“I like (to perform) because I can feel the direct reaction from the audiences. I perform on the stage a lot, so I can get all the taste from the audience,” Katsura said.
Kadota said the performance tonight will be focused on younger audiences.
“I think (Katsura) incorporates a lot of action in English Rakugo,” Kadota said. “He’s a rocker himself. He enjoys rock ‘n’ roll, and he is also a traditional licensed boxer.”
Noel Shimizu, the assistant director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, said she’s excited about Katsura’s performance because it takes on a nontraditional approach by having rock music play in the background during Katsura’s performance.
“It’s a nice contemporary twist on the traditional Japanese art of storytelling. (He’s) created a medium that is more accessible for the audience,” Shimizu said. “I feel like it’s going to be more interactive.”
