RAKUGO! by Tozaburo Yanagiya III - the Master Rakugo Performer

Rakugo is an art of traditional comic storytelling from Japan for over 400 years.  It is performed by one person who remains seated on a stage, with a fan and a tenugui (washcloth), for the entire performance as he tells funny stories.  The performer changes his voice or subtle movement to play different characters in each story. Rakugo is an art and Virtual Reality that can be enjoyed only through the excellent techniques of a lone storyteller.

Rakugo has been popular and enjoyed by people of all ages.

Tozaburo Yanagiya was accepted as an apprentice of Rakugo master Gontaro Yanagiya III, in 1999.  He was promoted to the highest rank of rakugo, Shin’uchi, in 2014.  He has performed in the Shoten Rakugo show, NHK’s “Katsura Bunchin no Engeizukan,”  as well as in films including “Good Morning Show” and “Rakugo Story,”  and in theater plays including “Monochro, Red Shinagawa, Blue Meguro”  and more.  He won the New Artist Award in Popular Entertainment, the  71st Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan National Arts Festival in  2016.

Tozaburo has moved to the US in 2018. He is the first and only professional Rakugo Master who lives in the US.

Tozaburo has  founded Rakugo Association of America in 2020 to transform "Japanese RAKUGO" into "Global RAKUGO" and bring smiles and Japanese culture to the world. He is currently on a North America tour and is scheduled to perform solo at NYC Carnegie Hall in April next year.

He is also passionate to train new Rakugo Performers to spread Rakugo to the world. He has now over 30 students who is learning Rakugo from age 5 to 70.

Don't miss your chance to experience a new type of comedic performance and learn about Japanese culture all in one.

One story will be in Japanese with subtitle, and the other will be in English.