"Appreciation of Traditional Japanese Entertainment of Easy Japanese Rakugo" was held at Minami-Senri International Plaza on March 4th.

The lecture on the history of Rakugo and traditional Japanese entertainment was given by Rakugo storyteller Katsura Kaishi, who has been performing Rakugo throughout Japan and the world. This time, though all participants watched the lecture online, Mr. Katsura Kaishi explained it in easy-to-understand Japanese quizzing participants on Rakugo, in order to make it easy for international students to understand. So his lecture brought many smiles to many students on the screen. In subsequent get-together session, some of students performed comic stories of their own countries. Then they tried to perform Rakugo themselves and practice the gesture of slurping soba noodles using a hand fan as chopsticks.

Some of participants gave their impressions as below:

"It was my first time to see Rakugo, and so interesting that I wanted to go to a storytellers' theater."

"I was especially impressed by the fact that he could use a hand fan and a handkerchief to express himself in various ways, and that one person could play multiple roles."

"I learned the differences between Rakugo in Kansai and Kanto regions."

It was a fulfilling day for Bekka students as they were able to experience and learn about traditional Japanese entertainment.