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00:05 Shinjuku is one of Tokyo's largest business and shopping districts.
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00:13 In a back street behind the skyscrapers, you'll find this site from another age.
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00:20 It's a traditional theatre dedicated to Yose, a kind of Japanese vaudeville or variety show.
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00:28 As well as the rows of regular seats facing the stage,
00:31 there are raised areas along each side where the audience sits on tatami mats.
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00:38 A typical program will include a wide variety of acts.
00:42 You can watch scissors wielded at lightning speed to cut paper into complex patterns.
00:49 An old style musical comedy act.
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00:56 Or a pair of astonishingly dexterous jugglers.
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01:03 But one thing included in every Yose program is rakugo.
01:07 This features a single performer sitting on a cushion relating a humorous story.
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01:14 Rakugo props are very simple. Just a folding fan and a small cotton cloth.
01:19 The fan can of course be used for its original purpose.
01:24 But it plays many other roles too.
01:26 For example, it can be the chopsticks as he simulates eating noodles.
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01:36 The cloth can also represent a multitude of objects.
01:39 Here it's a notebook he's reading from.
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01:46 Rakugo was invented in the 17th century.
01:50 While it was hugely popular among the common people, it rapidly developed extensive repertoire.
01:57 Many stories from those days are still told today.
02:00 Especially the classic tales making fun of people behaving foolishly.
02:05 Here he's describing a not so bright working man's arranged marriage to a woman full of pretentious heirs
02:11 because she worked for a noble family.
02:14 He plays both parts as they meet for the first time.
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02:24 For the female role, he switches to feminine gestures and voice.
02:28 The humor comes from the man's inability to understand his new wife's over polite way of speaking.
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02:48 Rakugo tales are mostly conversations.
02:51 And the skill is to switch smoothly between characters.
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02:57 In the world of comedy, it seems rather rare to have one person playing all the characters in a humorous story as we do in Rakugo.
03:05 I think we have a special culture here that I hope will be discovered by more people worldwide.
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03:12 In fact, Rakugo in English is now becoming popular overseas.
03:16 Performing here is Professor Oshima Kimie, a specialist in humor studies.
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03:24 Translating Rakugo into English led her to start performing herself.
03:28 And she's now demonstrated Rakugo to audiences in many countries.
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03:34 In my experience, funny stories about foolish behavior have a universal appeal.
03:39 They always get a big laugh from audiences in every country I go to.
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03:45 We asked Professor Oshima to demonstrate a Rakugo that pleases overseas audiences.
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03:51 She chose the story of a foolish man who finds a dead body and mistakes it for that of his friend.
03:57 Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
03:59 He goes to his friend's house.
04:01 The friend is also not too bright.
04:04 You're dead!
04:07 Yes, you are. I saw you dead.
04:10 Really?
04:12 I don't feel dead, really.
04:15 How did I die?
04:16 Oh, I don't know. You were by the river.
04:18 Their nonsensical conversation is always a crowd pleaser.
04:22 In the end, the friend goes back with him to pick up the body.
04:26 You know what, Hachi? Now I'm really confused.
04:29 This dead man is for sure me, but who am I picking up my own body?
04:36 Laughter is something that transcends culture and nationality.
04:41 I believe that just the simple act of laughing together can bring us closer to our fellow human beings.
04:48 Rakugo. Connecting the world through the universal power of laughter.
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