Over 400 years ago, the dance of Izumo no Okuni captivated all of the audience, which became KABUKI, and from that Japanese Dance was born. Whether you’ve seen it before or not,
we hope you find it interesting…
Continuing from last time, this is another rakugo story featuring HIDARI JINGORO, a legendary sculptor from the Edo period.
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｜Rakugo (Japanese Verbal Entertainment)
In the middle of the Edo period, humorous stories that had been popular among the upper classes such as Samurai and aristocrats began to spread among the common people. Without elaborate costumes or stage equipment, the performer would use a folding fan or a hand towel to portray multiple characters and scenes with gestures, allowing the listener’s imagination to expand the world of the story. This simple style made it extremely popular as a form of entertainment accessible to the common people.
The story concludes with a witty punchline called “Ochi” or “Sage”. The name “Rakugo” is said to originate from its former name, “Otoshi Banashi”.
Now, we’ll introduce the plot of “Nezumi (The Mouse)”, a very popular work featuring the exploits of HIDARI JINGORO.
｜Nezumi (The Mouse)
HIDARI JINGORO, who loved to travel, had come to the post town of Sendai. He was invited by the inn’s child to stay at an inn called “Nezumiya (Mouse House)”, which was a very poor inn run by the innkeeper, who had a bad back, and his 11-year-old son, and there was not even a futon.
According to the innkeeper, he was originally the owner of a fine inn across the street called “Toraya (Tiger House)” After his wife passed away, he took a maid as his second wife. One day, while trying to break up a fight between guests, he fell down the stairs, hurt his back, and was unable to stand. Thinking he would be a burden staying in the main house, he decided to move with his son into the storage shed across the street. However, this second wife was relationship with the head clerk from the start, and when her husband moved into the storage shed, she took over “Toraya”. For a while after that, only meals were brought to them, but gradually those stopped coming, and when his son went to get, he became violent, so eventually his childhood friend who lived nearby started looking after them. One day, his son told him that even though it was just a storage shed, it had rooms above and below, so if they could get a few guests to stay, they could make a living, so they managed to turn the shed into an inn.
They named it “Nezumiya” after the many mice that originally lived there.
Upon hearing this, JINGORO carved a mouse out of a piece of wood and placed it in front of the inn in hopes of bringing prosperity. The wooden mouse JINGORO carved moved around as if it were alive, and customers eager to see the mouse flocked to “Nezumiya”, making it thrive. Meanwhile, rumors of a takeover at “Toraya” spread, and the inn lost customers. By the way, there was once a sculptor in Sendai who had a rivalry with JINGORO, who had lost a carving contest to him. The head clerk of “Toraya” had him carve a tiger sculpture named after the inn “Toraya (Tiger House)”, and displayed it looking down on the mouse sculpture at “Nezumiya”. Then the mouse stopped moving altogether.
Hearing this, JINGORO visited again “Nezumiya”, where he found that the mouse had stopped moving entirely. However, to him, the tiger sculupture displayed in front of “Toraya” looked nothing but a botched work.
So he asked the mouse, “Why are you afraid of that failed tiger?” Then the mouse replied, “Is that a tiger? I thought it was a cat and was scared.”
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