Description:

Rakugo is a traditional Japanese comedic storytelling art that goes back four hundred and fifty years and continues to be popular to this day. What is the secret of its popularity? In this presentation, Professor Katsumata Motoi will discuss the history and characteristics of this art and perform two rakugo numbers.

Katsumata Motoi is Professor of Japanese Literature at Meisei University and Visiting Professor of Japanese at Brandeis University. His research focuses on filial piety culture and storytelling arts in the Tokugawa Period. Publications include: Rakugo kōdan ni miru oyakōkō (Filial Piety in Rakugo and Kōdan, 2013), Kōshi wo Tazuneru Tabi (A Journey Searching for Filial People, 2015) and the co-edited volume Kaii wo yomu, kaku (Writing and Reading the Ghostly, 2018).