The challenge of a female rakugoka who has no “convenient woman” January 26, 19:28

Corona, it was "Rakugo" that enriched my time at home.

It's a blissful time to cook while listening to rakugo on the stream.

However, on the other hand, sometimes I can't really enjoy the story of a woman appearing ...

A wife who supports a husband who does not work as a drinker, a daughter who will marry a stranger, a wife who is jealous of a concubine ... I get married.

But I'm really worried.

"A woman in rakugo, isn't it a little too convenient?"

As a performer, there is a female rakugo artist who challenges the adaptation of classic rakugo while feeling the same discomfort.

Tsuruko Hayashiya (34), who is 12 years old.

I heard about his thoughts on "Rakugo from a female perspective."

(Good morning Japan director Sakiko Nozawa)

A young rakugoka who is currently in the spotlight

Tsuruko Hayashiya (34), a rakugo storyteller who is the "second" storyteller, just before the hit.

Last year, he advanced to the final at the NHK Newcomer Rakugo Grand Prix, and is one of the youngest people who are currently attracting the most attention in terms of both popularity and ability.

Tsuruko, who descends from Takaza, who has a crisp narrative and a illusionary expression, is a charming, modern woman with a smile.

As a performer, how do you feel about how women are depicted?

Tsuruko Hayashiya

"The world where the mother (wife) who appears in rakugo mostly supports the host, can't give much opinions, and conversely, the strong mother is interesting because she can't give opinions." Gender. From this point of view, there are actually quite a few stories that do not fit the current trend. "

男性のための娯楽だった落語

そもそも、落語に登場する女性はほとんどが脇役で、台詞も男性に比べて少ない。しかも、誰かの妻や娘、遊女など、男性がいるからこそ成立する役柄として登場する場合がほとんどだ。

それは、落語の成り立ちと深い関係がある。江戸時代、寄席を訪れるお客さんは一仕事終えた男性たちが中心だった。

自分と身近に感じる人物の話こそ面白く感じるのは、いつの時代も同じ。熊さん、八っつぁんなど、噺の主人公たちが男性なのは、観に来るお客さんのことを考えれば当然のなりゆきなのだ。

私が落語を聴いて、素直に楽しめなかったのは、“見ず知らずの人と結婚することになるのに、相手が武士だからハッピーエンド”になったり、“娘が身売りして作ったお金を、父親が気前よく他人にあげてしまったり”する筋立てに出会った時。

「それで、その女の人は大丈夫だったの？なんとも思わなかったの？」と、ほとんど描かれていない女性側の気持ちに、思いをはせてしまったからだ。

時代が進むにつれ生じる違和感

このような違和感を抱くのは、私だけではないらしい。

つる子さんが女子高校生に落語を披露しに行った時のこと。“落語の中の女性の描き方に納得がいかない”という声が上がったのだ。

林家つる子さん

「おかみさんの描き方がきれいすぎるって言っている子も実際いたので。たぶん時代が進むにつれて違和感は絶対出てくると思うんですよね。落語ってその時代に寄り添ってきた演芸だと思うので、守る部分は守って、今だったらこういう感覚だよねと、柔軟に作り変えていってもいいのかなという気はしているんですよね」

落語を“古いもの”にしたくない

Many rakugo fans are still men.

Tsuruko wants you to laugh at rakugo regardless of gender.

I have been devising my own ideas about what rakugo can be enjoyed by modern women and how to increase the number of rakugo fans.

One day in October last year, a female-only "Women's Association Rakugo" was opened at a coffee shop in Tokyo.

In the story where women appear, we planned to have women who don't usually go to the yose get familiar with rakugo.

The show was a classic rakugo story about a husband who goes to a concubine and a wife who burns a sizzle.

Tsuruko Hayashiya

"The story of Yakimochi is often a classic rakugo story. My name is Rinki. When a male master does it, the appearance of baking Yakimochi looks a little cute. That's right. Did you really feel this cute ... "

Until now, the female comic storytellers have been modestly expressed by male comic storytellers.

However, isn't the actual movement of the female mind more intense?

Tsuruko boldly expressed his wife's anger and caught the venue in a whirlpool of laughter.

The women who were listening also gave us positive impressions.

"The rakugo that men are doing is too dreamy for women. I feel that Tsuruko reflects the appearance of a real woman."

"Tsuruko started me to be drawn into rakugo."

A big story of humanity from a female perspective

Tsuruko has been taking on many challenges with a female perspective in mind.

At the end of last year, I challenged "Shibahama", one of the biggest stories in classical rakugo.

The main character of "Shibahama" is Katsugoro, a fish shop who does not work as a drinker.

One day, he picked up a wallet with a lot of money at Shibahama and called his friends to make a fuss about it, saying, "I can play with this money."

The next day, his wife (mother) lied to Katsugoro who woke up, saying, "It's a dream to pick up my wallet."

Reflecting on Katsugoro, he decided to refuse to drink and work seriously.

Katsugoro later learned the truth, but he was thankful for his wife's nimble lie.

The story is impressive, but the thoughts of the wife who lied to her husband are hardly drawn.

Tsuruko Hayashiya

"The reason I lied was not only that I did it for you (husband), but also that I had a hard time and had a hard time. I think it would be a waste if the listener just said "I can't handle this", so I want to get as much sympathy as possible for the adaptation I'm trying. "

I want to make a story that modern women can truly enjoy listening to.

I decided to draw in detail the feelings of the mother.

Is "Shibahama's mother" an ideal image of a man?

In recreating Shibahama, Tsuruko confided to her master, Masazo Hayashiya (59), about this challenge.

Mr. Masazo Hayashiya

"When I hear from a man, I always think that this master wants to have such a mother." I also naturally do it and say, "I wish I had such a wife." An ideal image will come out. What kind of mother image will you make? "

What kind of person does Tsuruko draw, apart from the ideals of men , such as the sly mother, Karen mother, and the well-established mother who have been played by masters so far

?

I was asked by my master.

What do modern women think?

What should we do to make a story that modern women can sympathize with and enjoy?

Tsuruko asked the women around her for clues.

The single Tsuruko was worried about what kind of couple she would draw Katsugoro and her mother.

Why doesn't mom feel amiable to her husband who doesn't work because he drinks it?

I asked Murasaki Tsuyuno, a senior rakugo storyteller who is married.

Tsuruko Hayashiya

"What would you do if your husband was drowning in alcohol and didn't work?"

Murasaki Tsuyuno

"Don't go out (laughs)"

If I were in the position of "Mother of Shibahama", I wouldn't stand it.

"That's right ...", Murasaki began to tell an episode between the couple.

Murasaki

Tsuyuno "Did you have a husband when you left the hospital after receiving the vaccine? In the dark."

"When I say," I think it's time to finish. "I don't care about that time, but I was really happy. I think it's a little bit of daily accumulation. Wonder"

A couple has a lot of "little happiness" that no one else can understand.

Tsuruko began to feel that she could draw the happiness that she felt in her daily life.

Who made the lie?

The next person I talked to was a 29-year-old announcer who is in charge of the radio program together once a week.

A woman of the same age as Tsuruko's envisioned mother.

What kind of thought did "Mother of Shibahama" tell a bold lie, "It's a dream"?

Natsuki Wada

"I think it's my mom's" last bet ". Even if I like it, I can't stay with him anymore. If that doesn't work, I'll be able to break up. If you change it, the lie is "for yourself"

In the story of Mr. Wada, Mr. Tsuruko came up with the idea that "Mr. Mom may have lied with the preparedness."

A dignified woman who lied with the determination to break up with her husband-such a new image of a mother came to mind.

The completed "Shibahama" is ...

While listening to the frank thoughts of the women, Tsuruko-san's Shibahama has been painstakingly elaborated.

Until now, Shibahama's mother often had no name, but Tsuruko named her "Omitsu" and tried to draw herself carefully.

At the beginning of the story, I drew a couple's storytelling.

It's a scene that has never been seen in Shibahama.

Omitsu

"Wow, this horse mackerel looks delicious"

Katsugoro

"Well, do you understand? I'm glad. This horse mackerel, I, is the most delicious horse mackerel I've seen ..."

An exciting honey to see Katsugoro, a connoisseur who selects lively fish.

Tsuruko plays with a lot of expressions.

He tried to express the "little happiness" that the couple had accumulated by drawing a narration.

After that, the two became a married couple.

However, the work of the fish shop gradually became unsuccessful, and Katsugoro drowned in sake.

Omitsu tells Katsugoro, who picks up a wallet with a lot of money at Shibahama and makes a fuss about it, saying, "It's a dream to pick up a wallet."

Three years later, Omitsu begins to confess to Katsugoro, who began to work diligently.

おみつ

「それね、お前さんが3年前、芝の浜で拾ってきた50両だ」

勝五郎

「おめえ、あれ夢だって…」

真実を知り、いきりたつ勝五郎に、おみつはうそをついた思いを切々と語る。

おみつ

「私は、一生懸命働いて、楽しそうに河岸行ってる勝っつぁんにほれたんだ。…贅沢できなくても、お前さんがうれしそうに河岸行ってさ、お魚みなさん家に届けて、うれしそうに帰ってきて、お疲れ様って言いながら、ここで2人でお酒飲んでさ、余った魚2人で食べて、“余った魚だけどおいしいね”なんて言って、それだけでよかった。だけど、お前さんが河岸行ってくれなくなっちまって。今度は50両拾ってきちまって。“ニ度と河岸なんか行くもんか”って。私、これが夢だったらよかったのにって…」

つる子さんの目から、すっと涙が落ちた。“幸せだったあの頃に、どうにかして戻りたい”と覚悟のうそをついた、強い女性の姿が、そこにはあった。

固唾をのんで見入っていた、100人を超えるお客さんたちからは、「これまで聴いたどの芝浜とも違う、新しい芝浜を観た」と好意的に受け止められていた。

舞台から下りてきたつる子さんは、すっきりとした表情を浮かべていた。

林家つる子さん

「何かいろいろ、込み上げてしまって、抑えられませんでしたね」

そして改めて、決意を口にした。

林家つる子さん

「今回の芝浜に対して相当いろんな意見はあると思います。“わざわざやらなくてもいい”って言う人もいるだろうし、“この変え方どうなんだ”って人もきっといらっしゃると思うんですけど、その中でも一人二人でも響いていただいてたらやった意味はあったんじゃないかなと思うので。落語をこれからも残していくために挑戦を続けていきたいと思います」

A strong desire to please customers with art that is close to the present era.

Keep an eye on the rakugo storytelling of several children who continue to change.

After the interview

This time, I have been in close contact with Tsuruko's challenge for about three months.

In the traditional world of rakugo, the percentage of female rakugo artists is less than 10%.

Moreover, Tsuruko is a young man, and there must be strict opinions from masters and rakugo fans when recreating the masterpiece "Shibahama".

Even so, as a woman of the same age, I felt strongly pushed back by Tsuruko's positive attitude, saying, "I wish one or two people could resonate."

The charm of rakugo is hard to convey in letters.

Corona rakugo and remote rakugo are also popular, so please listen to the stories of various people, including Tsuruko.

"Witness! Nippon My Shibahama-Challenge of Female Rakugoka Hayashiya Tsuruko-"

This content is scheduled to be broadcast on NHK General TV from 6:10 am on Sunday, 30th of this month.

Introducing plenty of videos of Tsuruko's live performance.

Please have a look.

Good morning Japan Director

Sakiko Nozawa Joined the station in

2016

After working at the Kumamoto station, she has been a member since 2020.