Episode 6 The birth of the first true hit in 2022!
In earnest, my training as a nitsume actor began. Unlike when I was a maeza, I was no longer able to go to a yose theater every day and perform on the takaza stage.
Nevertheless, I was thankfully favored by the masters and was able to study on the dais at their rakugo performances. Rakugo performances were not limited to Tokyo, but took place all over the country. I often accompanied them.
There, the words that go with rakugo are used not only in the Takaza, but also in the conversation when you are with us in the dressing room. Even if you don't understand what they are saying at the time, it is good if you can understand what they mean 10 or 20 years later! I was really grateful to be by the side of these top-notch masters who said, "Even if you don't understand what they are saying at the time, you should be able to understand what they mean 10 or 20 years from now!
I will treasure these words for the rest of my life, and I hope that when I reach the same age in the future, I will be able to teach these words to younger rakugo artists. Not to mention the seriousness of their stories, but as I said, successful masters have interesting personal lives, and many things happen to them when I accompany them.
When I followed a master to Okayama, I returned to the hotel around 9:00 p.m. after his solo performance. The master told the hotel staff, "Please stop by the bar and have a good time! The bartender told him, "We have a wide selection of alcoholic beverages on the bar, so please enjoy drinking as much as you like from one corner to the other. The bartender told me, "We have a full lineup of drinks, so please drink as much as you like from every corner.
Then the master really drank all the sake lined up from corner to corner (laughs). At that time, I truly realized that a rakugo storyteller must be a strong drinker.
The next morning, the bullet train back to Tokyo is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. . It was about 30 minutes from the hotel to Okayama Station. The day before, we had decided on a time to meet in the lobby. Naturally, I was not allowed to be late, so I left the room at 10:00 a.m. . However, no one showed up at 10:20, the time for the meeting. I thought, "This is strange..." and went to my master's room. I went to my master's room and knocked, but there was no answer. I returned to the front desk in a panic, borrowed a key, and entered the room, where I found my master lying on the bed!
In a panic, I shook him awake! The master opened his eyes, obviously still drunk but surprisingly calm. He asked, "What time is it...?" I answered, "It's 10:45," to which he replied, "Wait in the lobby while I get ready," he said.
I stood at the entrance of the hotel and had the cab pull up in front of me so that I would be ready to meet him whenever he got off!
In a panic, I also said, "Master! This way!" And then, Kamon! Comeon! This way! Over here! I was shouting frantically with a hand like a student would do. I was so anxious not to miss the Shinkansen that I felt I had behaved very rudely......and now I regret it....
The cab driver, sensing the emergency, was driving with the same tension as us. He was driving at a speed of about 150 kilometers per hour (laugh). We arrived at the station just in time and were able to return to Tokyo safely.
A month later, I was in Okayama again for a solo performance by the master, and I accompanied him. I thought the cab going from the station to the venue was going awfully fast, but when I looked in the rearview mirror, the driver said, "You had a tough time the other day! I thought it was the taxi going from the station to the venue, but the driver looked at me in the rearview mirror and said, "You had a rough night the other day, didn't you? I was surprised to see the same driver! I thought to myself, "I guess the masters have something different when they are the best of the best.
Now, after completing my time as a nitsuime, I was finally promoted to the rank of shinuchi in May 2019, the first time I had ever been promoted to shinuchi in 2025. When I was promoted to the rank of shinuchi, I had to write a letter of greeting called "kuchijo-waki," which is filled with words of approval from my teachers, and when I received the letter written directly by my teacher, Takigawa Koisho, I was filled with tears.
Please look forward to seeing him after his promotion!
PROFILE
Born in 1984 in Nagoya, Japan, he is a member of the Rakugo Art Association. He became obsessed with motorcycles in high school and became the leader of a local motorcycle gang at the age of 17. He became an apprentice when he saw a solo performance by his master Takigawa Koisho while working part-time at a restaurant in Shinjuku, and was promoted to maeza in 2005, nitsume in 2009, and shinuchi in May 2019.
