First Laugh

New Years in Japan brings a lot of firsts. First sunrise （初日の出）, first dream （初夢）, and first visit to a shrine （初詣）are well known, but there is also first laugh（初笑い）, which is often associated with Rakugo. Thus it seemed all too appropriate to attend another TRPG Rakugo performance by Sanyutei Rakuten organized by Gurasan!

At the same venue as before, it again consisted of four stories, two traditional and the TRPG versions created from them, as well as a talk show. Previously, the original and TRPG versions were done in pairs, but this time it was split into both traditional stories, a break, and then both TRPG stories.

The first story アイテム根問 (loosely meaning Inquisitive about Items) was adapted from 千早ふる (Chihayaburu). Both are about an inquisitive person asking a know-it-all the meaning of something the know-it-all won’t admit he doesn’t know. The know-it-all then proceeds to make up the answers. The TRPG version is about items such as, “why is it called a mace?”. The traditional version is about the meaning of a Hyakunin Isshu poem.

This is a great example of how TRPG Rakugo attracts a new audience. While I generally followed the traditional story and enjoyed it, not being familiar with the poem nor related vocabulary meant I was inferring a lot. The TRPG version, though, absolutely hooked me because it used a language I am very familiar with– TRPGs.

Years ago I visited a Rakugo venue in Shinjuku Sanchome and listened to my first live Rakugo there. While I followed along, I confess it didn’t really “click” for me. Thanks to the subject matter of TRPG Rakugo and Sanyutei Rakuten’s delivery, I now get the humor.

The second story was 積みゲー幽霊 (Ghost of Unplayed Games), which is based on へっつい幽霊 (Ghost of the Hearth). I mentioned this before, but “Ghost of Unplayed Games” is one of my favorites, so I was ecstatic to hear it performed live! Seeing him portray the ghost, especially when asking favors, and reactions of the tenant were wonderful. This is one of the stories included in Rakuten’s book with audio!

Talk Show

The talk show covered a lot of topics, so I will only cover a few highlights. Two things Rakuten would like to try are collaborations with traditional crafts and a nationwide tour. There was also a fun segment about his favorite artists. Among Frank Franzetta, Yutaka Izubuchi, and many others, Sasaki Ryou in particular caught my attention because she is an acquaintance I’ve played board games with before and the artist of “Sparkle Stars”!

The Spoils

Last time I purchased a few items and he signed my book. This time he had a new dice pouch with his character on it that my wife bought me and he signed. Chatting with him briefly afterwards, it turns out he draws his own characters.