Special Japanese-Hungarian storytelling collaboration in Budapest – PHOTOS

On November 5, Tuesday, Hungarian storytelling met Japanese Rakugo through a special international collaboration hosted by the Hungarian National Theater and co-organized by The Japan Foundation, Budapest.

With the goal of opening an international dialogue between the art of storytelling in different nations, The Japan Foundation, Budapest invited Rakugo performer, Master Shinoharu Tatekawa and Rakugo researcher from Kanagawa University, Professor Kimie Oshima to Budapest. Here they were joined by the legendary Hungarian storyteller Mr. András Berecz. The performance took place on a very memorable day, as later in that same evening Mr. Berecz went on to receive the prestigious Artist of the Nation Award.

In the first half of the program, the audience had the opportunity to watch a performance from both storytellers. Since Rakugo has many specificities that the Hungarian audience might not have been familiar with, before Mstr. Shinoharu took the stage, Prof. Oshima held a brief presentation about Rakugo in general. To give the reader the gist of it, Rakugo is traditional Japanese humorous storytelling that was originally created by monks to make it easier for their religious teachings to reach the general public by wrapping them up in humorous stories. Rakugo is performed sitting down, by one person only, using the limited tools of a handkerchief and a folding fan.

H.E. ONO Hikariko (c), Japan’s ambassador to Hungary. Photo: Japan Foundation Budapest

After that, Mstr. Shinoharu took the stage and performed a traditional Rakugo piece, Tea Ceremony, the story of a rich but uneducated man and his servant who takes on holding tea ceremonies as a hobby in order to appear sophisticated, but they have absolutely no clue as to how to brew tea.

Next, it was time for a Hungarian story. Mr. Berecz performed his piece, Angyalfütty, a story of how an angel falling from heaven led to the creation of dance and different dance styles down here on Earth. The highlight of the performance was how Mr. Berecz involved his Japanese interpreter in the demonstration. Although shy at first, she became also a performer.

Storytelling roundtable discussion

In the second half of the program, the two worlds of storytelling finally met in the form of a roundtable discussion between Mstr. Shinoharu and Mr. Berecz, moderated by Prof. Oshima. As expected from the two participants who are masters of humor, the discussion was just as funny and entertaining as the performances themselves. It was also very insightful, both the participants and the audience wished it could have gone on for twice as long. However, it was time to send Mr. Berecz off so he could receive the highest honor an artist can be awarded in Hungary.

Before returning to Japan the next day, Mstr. Shinoharu and Prof. Oshima held a workshop at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, one of the few universities in Hungary where students can major in Japanese Studies. The workshop was open to the public but was conducted entirely in Japanese. The students got to try their hands at Rakugo storytelling, many of them bravely took the stage and gave short performance in their second language.

KRE workshop. Photo: Japan Foundation Budapest

The Japan Foundation was established in 1972, its purpose is promoting cultural co-operation between Japan and the other countries of the world. The Budapest Office opened in 1991, and since then organizes cultural events, performances, exhibitions and lectures, with the aim of introducing every segment of Japanese culture. The Foundation offers Japanese language courses, support of academic research and different grant programs as well.

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