KATSURA SUNSHINE at GLASGOW UNIVERSITY

Katsura Sunshine is the only non-Japanese performer of the historical theatre tradition in Japan called Rakugo.It is a 400-year-old tradition of comic performance storytelling done in a one man minimalistic performance style dressed in kimono, kneeling on a cushion,  using only facial movements to play a whole host of characters , engaging the audience with a comic monologue describing a traditional story.

 According to his publicity Sunshine was born in Toronto, Ontario, to parents of Slovenian origin. In 2008, Sunshine was accepted as an apprentice to the great Rakugo storytelling master, Katsura Bunshi VI (then named Katsura Sanshi), and subsequently received the name Katsura Sunshine. Sunshine received his professional debut in Singapore the following year, and completed his three-year Rakugo apprenticeship in November, 2012. Sunshine is the first ever Western Rakugo storyteller in the history of the “Kamigata” Rakugo tradition, based in Osaka, and only the second ever in the history of Japan. He is the only Western professional Rakugo storyteller at the present time. Sunshine is also the Cultural Ambassador for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Japan.

There is a whole lot more information and history in Sunshines Official website  of the Rakugo tradition with its various protocols and a very demanding three year apprenticeship in which the pupil has to sit with and serve the Master for every day without fail as he learns the craft which is only performed by 700 performers who have graduated to become formal storytellers when " In order to become a recognized professional Rakugo storyteller, one must apprentice to a Rakugo master, from whom one receives a stage name. The apprenticeship lasts for three to four years, and is very strict. Depending on the master, the apprentice may not drink, smoke, or go on dates, and is subject to a strict curfew during the apprenticeship period. The apprentice cleans the master’s house, does laundry, cooking, preparing and folding kimonos, and other chores, and learns the art of storytelling by watching the master perform and imitating. Throughout one’s career, one is only allowed to perform a given story once permission to do that story has been granted by a master storyteller."

 "Every Rakugo story is preceded by a comic monologue which consists of the individual storyteller’s “material”, and can be about almost anything, much like stand-up comedy. The storyteller often takes advantage of this monologue to present hilarious explanations of how to enjoy and appreciate Rakugo stories, so that even the uninitiated can easily follow the story once it begins. Traditionally, the storyteller uses the monologue to “feel out” his audience, and actually decides which story to launch into once he can see what kind of audience he has."

The video below has Sunshine performing to a Scottish audience following his run at the Edinburgh Festival



And the video below traces the journey that made Sunshine into the first foreign performer of the Rakugo tradition