"" "Episode Three" "Oh, there he is!" "Look at how red his face is." "He's so lively." "Where's he been drinking?" "He wasn't drinking alcohol." "Did you boil him, then?" "What's wrong with you?" "Babies are "akanbou" because they're red." "Oh, I get it." "If they're red, they're "akanbou."" "If they're blue, they're "aonbou."" "If they're white, they're "shironbou."" "Hey." "I see you're getting an early start to the day." "Could you not interrupt me?" "Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time." "I'm trying to make the most of it." "You sound different this morning." "The way you tell the story, the way you speak..." "It's not like you." "You're like a songbird trying to crow." "Hey, is it the thing Master said about you speaking from your diaphragm?" "Look, I know what he said, but I think you'd be better off finding stories that play more to your strengths." "It sucks not having a full voice, right?" "So pick a story where you don't need one." "Bawdy stories, erotic stories." "You know, sexy stuff." "There're lots of stories with shamisen and dance moves, too." "I can't even do a headstand, but you could probably handle it!" "Right?" "I can't even handle the beginner stories." "It's too soon for those." "Yeah, true." "You couldn't handle 'em." "I wanna sleep with a girl." "I guess it ain't possible, living like this, though." "Hey." "Once we're getting paid by the theater, let's save up and hit a Yoshiwara brothel." "I have to get to school." "I see." "See ya later." "Shin-san surpassed me further and further." "I was beginning to feel truly anxious." "At the time, it took all I had just to remember the beginner stories." "How was I to think about things that played to my strengths?" "And I had no time whatsoever to think about women." "I was strained by my busy schedule, spending my days at school, and my nights at the theater." "For my mother's sake," "Master made arrangements for me to attend up to high school, but..." "As a result, the gap between" "Yurakutei Hatsutaro myself and Shin-san—who could devote himself to rakugo all day—grew inevitably wider." "And that distance between us grew more and more painful." "But, at the same time," "I was undeniably glad to be in the entertainment world." "Perhaps I really did enjoy that sort of thing." "Going to the theater, listening to the tones of the shamisen..." "It set my heart at ease." "Ow." "What's wrong?" "I strained my finger earlier, and it still hurts." "Here, let me have a look." "What's the next master's song?" "Oh, do you play?" "It's "Are the Plums in Bloom?"" "Please, allow me." "Oh, Yakumo's apprentice Bon is playing?" "That's just fine." "Excuse me..." "Th-Thank you for earlier." "I-I only just started." "I'm really awful..." "But, you're very good." "Wh-What is it?" "Would you like me to teach you?" "Y-You'd do that?" "Really?" "This girl is an apprentice instrumentalist, Ochiyo-chan." "The first girl I ever went out with." "At first, I dated her because I was curious about what women were like, but she was also an honest, charming girl." "I was a zenza, the lowest rank of performer, so we couldn't be seen together, but we hid our love and met in secret many times." "However, I was to find myself separated from Ochiyo-chan very soon." "I have to go back to the country." "My grandmother back home... my brother's been caring for her, but he's gone to join the army..." "Because the war's going to start soon..." "Kikuhiko-san." "This might be goodbye..." "But please, don't forget me." "Storyteller" "That year—1941, Showa 16—the tide was turning against rakugo." "It was declared immoral, indiscreet." "The rakugo world censored itself." "Bawdy stories like "Akegarasu", erotic stories like "Miyatogawa"..." "In all, 53 of these great works were labeled "forbidden rakugo" and buried." "I'm truly at a loss." "I feel like they've tied my hands and feet." "If they keep up this self-censorship, it'll becoming standard in the rakugo world." "What a ridiculous state of affairs." "Utter nonsense." "It happened just as I had begun practicing bawdy and erotic rakugo at Shin-san's recommendation." "It felt as if, just as I was began struggling to work out my own rakugo," "I was denied that path." "Hey." "Shin-san!" "What's all this?" "I thought you were off today." "The thing I was doing ended early, so I came to help out." "Plus, you've looked pretty worn out lately." "Don't be too rough." "You'll break them." "I know that!" "Is something bothering you?" "Nah." "There's just no new guys joining up." "If this keeps up, we're gonna stay bottom-of-the-barrel forever." "With no new zenza, we'll never move up to futatsume." "What can you do?" "No one would be foolish enough to do rakugo with how things—" "The way things are?" "!" "Who cares?" "!" "I wanna do rakugo, not chores!" "And... because of how things are, we gotta make sure rakugo sticks around." "We're not getting people in the seats." "No one wants to become a storyteller, because they'd be living hand-to-mouth." "It's hard enough just to survive." "But, listen." "Once their bellies are full again, they'll be back at the theater." "I know that's how it's gonna be." "Is it?" "I'll need whoever's on duty this month and next month to carry it." "Who's on duty this month and next month?" "Oh?" "The sandal-maker and the tofu maker?" "Okay, you two handle it." "Hey, he's doing "Koganemochi"!" "Us again?" "Okay, head on out!" "I've been practicing this one." "Heave-ho!" "Heave-ho!" "Master Beisuke, huh?" "He's not very good." "Hey now, this isn't a festival!" "Shouting aloud, they left the village of Yamazaki in Shitaya out to Yamashita in Ueno, crossing the Sanmai Bridge, emerging on the Ueno Road..." "Down the Onari Road to Goken Village, and straight past the mansions of Lord Hori and Lord Torii..." "I first began to hate rakugo because of Shin-san..." "But I also began to love it because of him." "However..." "After the war began in earnest, people began to stream out of Tokyo." "Naturally, that had an effect on the world of rakugo, as well." "The older students quit, one after another." "And despite Shin-san's insistence, our world began to feel emptier and emptier." "Kiku, Hatsuta, I don't know what to say." "It's just down to you two." "Master..." "I..." "The truth is, I have some things to talk to you both about." "I'd like to meet with each of you alone later." "Listen, Kiku." "I've been thinking of going to Manchuria to entertain the troops." "And it's dangerous to be in Tokyo, so I'm thinking of sending my wife back to her family." "I intend to let Matsuda-kun take his leave, as well." "I want you to go to the country with my wife." "You're eighteen years old, so I may be worrying too much..." "But, if anything happened to you, I could never face your mother again." "What about Shin-san?" "Well..." "I'm thinking of taking him with me." "Then please, take me, too!" "That place is too dangerous." "I couldn't take you." "You've got the bad leg, and all." "The more people, the harder it is to move around." "It's better than joining the army, isn't it?" "Come on, we'd be getting the axe in a few months either way." "Even if you stayed, you couldn't do rakugo." "It's the era we live in." "I can't even take care of my cat." "I need to let her go." "So, I'm like your cat?" "Am I being abandoned again?" "Shin-san gets to stay by your side, learning." "I can't be the only one sitting out in the country, doing nothing!" "Do you believe I'm that lacking in potential?" "That's not what I'm saying." "I don't want to fall even further behind him!" "Not when I've finally come to love it." "I want to keep practicing rakugo!" "Kikuhiko." "I don't recall raising you to talk back to me." "Yes, sir..." "I'm sorry." "Bon." "You up?" "Yeah." "Guess it's goodbye soon." "But, I promise to come back alive." "We haven't even gone to Yoshiwara together." "What, it's like you don't believe me or something." "Shin-san." "Pinky swear." "Hey, do "The Yawning Coach", "Akubi Shinan." Listening to you always puts me to sleep." "Puts you to sleep?" "So rude." "Is that an insult or a compliment, anyway?" "Who knows?" "Hey, come here a minute." "What is it?" "It's practice." "Give me a break." "That's not the face of a man who wants to practice." "He's already asleep." "Time passed, without mercy." "I was in the country, working in a factory, completely cut off from rakugo." "I can't say I was enjoying myself, but..." "It was a peaceful life, untouched by the war." "Some might have considered it luxurious." "Classic Rakugo" "Bon-chan!" "Sleeping out here again?" "You'll ruin your health." "Leave me be." "I'm not that fragile." "I don't mean it like that..." ""What if I married a normal girl like this, got a normal job, and spent the rest of my days out here in the country?"" "The thought did enter my mind..." "I'm back." "Welcome home." "Kikuhiko-san, any letters?" "None." "I just know it." "He died over there..." "At first, we got regular letters from Master, but they gradually trailed off." "Although they said they'd be back in a few months, we soon lost track of them." "Six months passed." "Then a year." "There was no stopping the heartless flow of time." "The mistress, who was always so busy back in Tokyo, slowly began to wither, waiting daily for the master's return." "And as for me..." "I had half given up on ever seeing them again." "Don't you think?" "That's funny." "To forget..." "Beginner's Rakugo Edo Short Story Collection" "Perhaps I was trying to convince myself that that was for the best." "Mistress." "You need to eat, or you'll fall ill again." "I'm fine." "There's no point in being healthy if he's not here." "Don't say that." "Even if he never comes back, we have our own lives to lead." "Right?" "Hey, come here a minute." "What is it?" "It's practice." "Give me a break." "The snows of the surrounding mountains melted, filling the great rivers, which rolled forcefully along..." "After that, whenever I was feeling down, I found myself reciting rakugo stories." "It felt like a great weight was lifted from my heart." "I realized that despite all my attempts to forget it, rakugo had taken root in my heart." "I had grown to need it." "That's when it happened." "The emperor made his broadcast, and the war was over, just like that." "It was a truly sudden development." "The mistress and I had only one wish:" "To be able to return to Tokyo as soon as we could, now that it was free of air raids." "And then, for Master and my friend to come back to us." "The Master's house in Kagurazaka had escaped damage from the war." "And because Matsuda-san, who lived nearby, had been taking care of it, it was still pristine inside." "After all, this house is special to me, too." "Th-Thank you..." "Mistress..." "Now we simply wait for the master of the house to return." "Yes." "But, the good news did not come." "We heard rumors that the withdrawal was taking an exceptionally long time." "Nevertheless, believing they would return," "I began to work tirelessly as temporary breadwinner." "I'm taking this back to the fish market.." "The masters arranged for me to be treated as a futatsume." "I performed three or four times a night at dinners." "I was so busy, I had no time to rest." "Ah, well." "You'll have to fetch a kettle to replace it." "But, I was happy I was able to do rakugo again." "Fetch a kettle?" "You can get a kettle to replace your loincloth?" "You lucky dog!" "How dare you!" "And then, without any warning, the day arrived." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Mistress!" "Matsuda-san!" "Dear!" "Tomi!" "Shin-san." "You stink!" "Bon, you smell good!" "I'm giving you five coins, so go take a bath." "Huh?" "!" "And in no time at all, the theaters reopened." "Look, the curtain's going up!" "Hey Bon, watch this!" "Keep your eyes and ears wide open!" "There you have it!" "Look at that audience!" "It's just like I said!" "They've been starved for fun and now they're piling in!" "And because they've been deprived so long, it means rakugo will be able to shine." "Our time has come!" "Wherever he looked, he saw a bright future." "A righteous future." "In that moment, I believed that from the bottom of my heart." "And if I looked in the same direction, I would find my own way." "I was convinced of that, as well." "As we came of age, we quickly ascended to the rank of futatsume, left Master's house, and lived together in poverty as roommates." "The tailwind of rakugo's popularity was tremendous, and it was pushing us towards our first taste of young stardom, but..." "Hello." "Is Yakumo-sensei here?" "Tell him that Miyokichi is here." "He'll understand." "Unfortunately, that's all the time we have." "I'll continue the story another night." "Next time, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Episode 4." "We appreciate your continued support."