Rakugoka Hayashiya Sanpei shows off a funny rakugo story November 4, 14:06
"I thought so, I bought two bottles of one box."
"Young husband is lucky."
"Is it so lucky?"
"Haha, I bought two bottles of one box. I bought two bottles and won Japan! "
Two" and "Japan" can't be laughed at.
Actually, this is a part of the national rakugo that was made to raise the fighting spirit.
After the war, it disappeared quietly without anyone telling the story.
However, in this era, 76 years after the war, there are rakugo artists who dared to revive national rakugo in peaceful Japan without war.
This is Mr. Sanpei Hayashiya.
This time, he revealed to me why the comic storytellers who make people laugh continue to show off their comic storytellers.
(Radio Center Kumiko Seko, Kazuki Sakamoto)
What is national policy rakugo?
National rakugo was created by popular rakugo artists of the time, such as Kinba Sanyutei III and Masazo Hayashiya 7th, who is also the grandfather of Mihira-san, to raise the spirit of war.
You can check the records and magazines released at that time to praise the expedition and encourage the people to save and buy bonds to secure military spending.
According to Engei history researcher Shin Kashiwagi, it has been actively made since 1945, and about 140 performances are currently confirmed.
I borrowed it from Mr. Kashiwagi and actually listened to the record this time.
At the "Kingorō Yanagiya", the story begins after a brave military song is played instead of the debayashi in raku.
"Walking around the table, uh, airplane donations, tanks, and machine gun donations are thriving. I'm thinking of donating one or something, but I don't think everyone feels like that."
Words such as "tank" and "machine gun" that don't seem to be rakugo come out one after another, and it's honestly boring, but since the stars at that time were showing off, I couldn't help but listen.
Grandfather's national policy rakugo "congratulations"
Six years ago, Mr. Mihira learned of the existence of a book containing the story of "Departure Celebration," which was announced under the name of his grandfather, Hayashiya Shozo.
Mr. Sanpei Hayashiya
"At first, I wondered what it was like at that time because my grandfather was doing it, and I thought I'd try it myself. However, the content was extremely scary. I felt like I was fluffy. "
As for the celebration of the expedition, a convocation letter arrives at the young husband of a certain store, and there is no story about how his father, the husband, and the people around him will send it out.
At NHK, in September, we had Mihira-san show off his congratulations on the radio for the first time.
When the convocation letter arrives at the young husband, the clerk calls on his father, the big husband.
The leader,
"My husband, my husband, too ..."
Husband:
"Sazo, what is Sazo, what is Sazo? Well, let's hear after that. I'm a Japanese boy. Isn't that the case?
Think carefully. It's Tenshi-sama's child, the nation's dry castle. My heart doesn't flinch. My heart is sunny in Japan. Hahaha, that's right.
Far from being interesting, it's complicated to imagine the thoughts of a father sending his son to the battlefield.
Mr. Sanpei Hayashiya
"I'm so sorry that it's not interesting before I start talking. As
Master Danshi Tatekawa said, there are more and more stingy people saying" affirmation of karma ". It is a rakugo story to depict humanity after acknowledging the weakness and stupidity of human beings, such as stinging and failing, but national policy rakugo twists it and tries to force it into a good story for the country. So I can't laugh.
However,
it's
just that it's peaceful now, just
because it doesn't
seem interesting
.
It seems that he was laughing at that time, isn't it? "
Mr. Mihira has been celebrating this expedition all over the country for five years.
Kayoko Ebina, the mother of Mihira and an essayist, is known to have lost six family members in the bombing of Tokyo and is continuing her memorial activities. It is said that he was trained in Chiba prefecture as a special attack on human bullets to meet the landing US troops.
Mr. Sanpei Hayashiya
"Neither my grandfather nor my father talked about it during the war. My grandfather had a feeling of thinking about his son, and he wanted to give preferential treatment to his son when he went on the road. Maybe
it was. I don't want to go to war. But if I express it, I would be a non-national person at that time, so I think my grandfather was angry that he had to suppress his feelings and do what the military wanted. This story conveys that feeling. "
National rakugo is also on the radio at that time
In fact, these national rakugo stories were also broadcast on the radio of NHK's predecessor, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.
Examining the broadcast records at that time, rakugo was broadcast at least 430 times between 1945 and the end of the war.
After that, when I asked Shin Kashiwagi, an art history researcher, to investigate the performance, I found that there was a "back shop bank" that opened a bank in Nagaya and recommended saving money, a "air battle" that praised the strength of the Japanese army, and It turned out that at least 14 national rakugo stories, such as "For Manchuria" by the 7th generation Hayashiya Shozo, were broadcast 19 times.
Mr. Kashiwagi
"I wear the armor of war under the clothes of laughter. I have successfully incorporated the national rakugo into the entertainment broadcast.
It was confirmed for the first time that the national rakugo was also broadcast on the radio this time
.
It is very important to see the lessons of history that even rakugo was used in the war. "
When I read the records at that time, I was horrified that the radio was all over the war.
The rakugo story that sometimes makes us laugh, and the fact that even radio broadcasting cooperated in the war, made me feel that I must take it seriously as a person involved in broadcasting. ..
Talking about war in national rakugo
Kayoko Ebina, the mother of Mihira, who continues to talk about the stupidity of war, is also 88 years old.
As the number of generations who know about war is decreasing, Mr. Mihira thinks that national rakugo will play a role in how to continue to convey the horror of war.
Mr. Sanpei Hayashiya
"Before starting the story, I will tell you that you must think that it was the 15th and 16th years of the war. We ask everyone to travel back in time during the war. Japan has not lost the war. I want you to think of the background of the times when you're going
to do your best. I want you to feel the horror of war by time slipping back in time. My grandfather and father really lived in the times of war. I don't think we should repeat this kind of era. "
The performance was canceled due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and it is said that it has not been possible to show off the "congratulations on the expedition" since last year. I felt a strong determination that I had to convey it.
It is no longer possible to know how the rakugo artists at that time cooperated in the war, but we must never forget the existence of national rakugo, which has disappeared once. it might be.
Radio Center Reporter
Kumiko Seko
Joined in 2005
Coverage on the theme of war and peace
Hobbies are vaudeville and
favorite stories are "Shibahama" and "paper case"
Radio Center Director
Kazuki Sakamoto
Joined in 2020
Interviewing the leaders of various cultures
"Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinchu" My
favorite story is "Grim Reaper"