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.

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.