Ep. 26 Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Written by Cordelia, edited by Grace

In this episode, we are going to delve into a manga and its TV show adaptation that aired in 2018, 昭和元禄语落心中 (Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju). Before we begin, I'd like to inform my listeners that this episode will cover sensitive topics such as suicide and other dangerous behaviors. It's crucial to reach out to a mental health professional, counselor, or a trusted person for support.

Listen to the full episode :

Rakugo and Shinju and Showa

What is Rakugo? What is Shinju? And what is Showa?

Let's start by exploring Rakugo, a traditional form of Japanese verbal entertainment often performed in yose theaters. Yose theaters, which originated during the 18th century Edo period, are venues for spoken word performances.

While Rakugo has roots dating back to the Heian Period in 794 AD, it truly took shape during the Edo Time Period, roughly 300 years ago. Many stories are rooted in temples, covering topics such as ghosts, love, and human relationships.

The process of learning Rakugo is charmingly traditional—strictly oral. Teachers pass down stories through spoken word, and students learn by listening and repeating.

Rakugo is an age-old form of entertainment that I personally love.

As someone with a bit of old-fashioned sensibility, I was raised by my grandparents' generation, so my childhood involved listening to manzai and rakugo on the radio during warm summer nights.

And now, let's discuss Shinju.

Shinju refers to a tragic love story where a couple dies together, often through suicide.

Lastly, Showa refers to the period from 1926 to 1989, which serves as the backdrop for our story.

The Manga and the Story

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, original manga is written and created by Hariko Kumota. This series was serialized in Kodansha’s ITAN magazine from 2010 to 2016 and subsequently compiled into ten volumes in total. The publisher also released the manga in North America. This manga was further adapted into animation in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, a live-action series adaptation was broadcast on NHK from October to December, 2018.

The story begins with a young gay man, Yotaro, who just got released from prison and wants to learn rakugo from a famous rakugo performer, Yakumo Yurakutei. From rejecting to accepting, the narrative delves into the origins of these performers and their quest for recognition, tracing Yakumo’s journey from apprenticeship to stardom and his camaraderie with a fellow performer Sukeroku. Yakumo tells the stories between him and Sukeroku to Yotaro and Sukeroku’s daughter, Konatsu.

Kikuhiko and Hatsutaro 

Before inheriting the title of Yakumo, his name was Kikuhiko. Before inheriting the title of Sukeroku, his name was Hatsutaro.

They were both learning rakugo from the same master since they were little. Although they both gave the similar effort of practicing the rakugo, Kikuhiko initially found himself falling shorter than Hatsutaro. Hatsutaro had the magic and power to make the audience burst into laughter while Kikuhiko’s audience often fell asleep. This imbalance sowed seeds of envy and jealousy in Kikuhiko’s heart. Throughout their growth and learning journey, Kikuhiko always trailed behind Hatsutaro. 

Even though Kikuhiko could not stop compare himself with Hatsutaro, neither did anyone else. Kikuhiko had and still has a deep attachment with Hatsutaro, even after so many years, Hatsutaro, Sukeroku still lives in his heart. 

Sukeroku was the natural talent type, Kikuhiko was the hard-working type.

Kikuhiko was removed from his family because of his disability. 

Kikuhiko holds the fear of being abandoned, so he had the enrage of the space on the stage not in someone’s heart.

Kikuhiko and Rakugo

“If you don’t find a fit anywhere, make your own space and voice for yourself.”

Kikuhiko was always the serious one, to the point where his master had been telling him to open himself more, just like how Hatsutaro could do, open up and give himself the space to add in his own style of performance.

It was not easy for Kikuhiko to find a space for himself on the stage. It took him many many years to find himself in the female roles among storytellings and performances. 

Kikuhiko was a child of a Japanese traditional dance master,he was trained but after breaking his leg led to no more dancing practice, there was no space for him in the household. So, for him, to be accepted, to be able to stay and hold a space for him was the most important notion to have.

So, just let that, he realized to make his own space, to voice out for his own talent. But, knowing how to perform the female roles in romance stories is not enough, he needed more.

Once while passing by a izakaya, Kikuhiko happened to overhear an elder master’s performance of Shinikami, The God of Death. This master, unfortunately, had been expelled from the Rakugo Association, due to his issue with alcohol abuse. This master was a survivor during the war, and believed drinking was a way to recover from the trauma, so he had to drink to tell the story of the god of death, because of his fears. 

No wonder his storytelling of death was one of the best. Only the one who faced death can tell the story about death in the most vivid way.

Kikuhiko saw his opportunity, as he could never tell the comedy as Hatsutaro did, he wanted to advance his skills in telling horror stories.

As hard working as he was, Kikuhiko practiced over and over and over again with the master from the night to the morning, to the afternoon without any break. 

Then, he made it.

He became the one who could tell the best story of The God of Death.

Kikuhiko and Hatsutaro and Miyokichi

Faced with choosing love or frame/professionalism, Kikuhiko chose the latter, while Hatsutaro chose the former. 

The love is in the form of Miyokichi. Konatsu’s mother.

Miyokichi was a geisha. She was in love with Kikuhiko then ran away with Hatsutaro. Miyokichi’s deepest fear was similar with Kikuhiko, she did not want to be alone. 

But that fear could not compete with Kikuhiko’s fear of being abandoned and losing his space on the stage. Compared with the love for Miyokichi he would rather die with Rakugo. 

But, Hatsutaro chose Miyokichi, and chose to be with her. They ran away together, and then had Konatsu together.

The story presented many choices—career and personal. Kikuhiko aimed to please masters and traditions, while Hatsutaro focused on the audience and ignored authority.

Similar to convincing Miyokichi to overcome the fear of being alone, to make her space in the world, Kikuhiko tried to persuade Hatsutaro to follow the rules first then progress the revolution. But, none of them took his words seriously. 

Yakumo and Konatsu

Konatsu is the daughter of Hatsutaro and Miyokichi, she had a huge misunderstanding about Kikuhiko, later Yakumo. 

After experiencing exile from his own family, aparting with Sukeroku, and the death of master, Sugeroku, and Miyokichi, after all those abundance, Yakumo met Konatsu, later Yotaro. 

Yakumo maybe never realized, that he is loved by all his audience, including Sukeroku, Miyokichi, his master, his student Yotaro, and at last, Konatsu. 

After losing her parents, Konatsu was brought up by Yakumo.. and… ahhhhh, I cannot just say it, I don’t want to spoil the storyline too much, the manga is translated into English already, so I really hope my listeners can give the manga a try. The art is really pretty and the storyline is not only genius but also philosophic. By reading it, the readers can learn so much about the traditional art, Rakugo and the Japanese perspective of life and death.

Ending

As a student at an art school right now, with the current marks I get, I questioned my professor once, if I got this kind of mark, what was the point of me getting accepted into my current program

My professor said, “your voice matters, the world needs to hear it.”

In the manga, Yokumo says to Yotaro, “don’t just be apart from the past, but face it, work on it, improve from it, then heal from it.”

Being able to create, to write, and making a podcast like this and sharing it, I realize the core of making a space for myself and others. 

Yokumo made a space on the stage for himself, and people like him. He faced his fears and turned it into storytelling, which takes a lot of dedication and courage.

I used to want to write beautifully and aesthetically, but after a year of learning and overcoming all kinds of fears, I want my writing to bring comfort. 

I hope you enjoyed this episode. Since the manga is available in English, I encourage you to give it a read. Grace edited this episode, and I'm your writer, Cordelia.

Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for our next episode. Talk to you soon!