BENGALURU: Despite the widespread popularity of Japanese culture through its cuisine, films, anime, and even beauty products many traditional Japanese art forms remain largely unseen by audiences outside Japan. While sushi, samurai films, and skincare trends have taken the world by storm, cultural treasures like Rakugo, a centuries-old form of comedic storytelling, have yet to gain similar recognition. However, individuals like Santhosh Kaliyanaraman are building bridges, introducing these lesser-known traditions to new audiences, including to Bengalureans, this weekend.
“Traditionally, Rakugo has been passed down orally from a guru (master). Nowadays, there are books but the primary way of learning is still through a guru. In Rakugo, dressed in a kimono, the storyteller sits on a zabuton (pillow) and tells stories.
You don’t narrate the story in a ‘once-upon-a-time’ style. Instead, the entire performance is in dialogue format,” says Kaliyanaraman, one of the first Indians to perform this art form outside Japan. The rakugoka (storyteller) relies on subtle changes in posture, gestures, and tone of voice to differentiate between characters.
With the simplicity of props a fan that can become chopsticks or a pen, and a handkerchief that can morph into a book or a bowl it is up to the rakugoka to invoke imagination in the audiences. “Rakugo is mostly known for its comedic stories, but it also has horror and human-interest tales,” explains Kaliyanaraman, who shifted t.