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Kairakutei Black

Storyteller and Actor

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  • Synopses of tales by Henry Black
    • Bara Musume (The Rose Girl)
    • Eikoku Rondon gekijô miyage (Tale From a London Theater)
    • Eikoku no otoshibanashi (The Beer Drinking Contest)
    • Iwade ginkô chishio no tegata (The Bloodstained Handprint at the Iwade Bank)
    • Kusaba no tsuyu (Dew by the Graveside)
    • Minashigo (The Orphan)
    • Nagare no akatsuki (Dawn at the River)
    • Setsunaru Tsumi (The Pitiful Sin)
    • Shachû no Dokubari (The Poisoned Pin in the Coach)
    • Tabakozuki (The Heavy Smoker)
    • Tsurugi no Hawatari (The Sword’s Edge)
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Archives

  • March 2021
  • March 2020
  • June 2019
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • November 2017
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  • February 2017
  • January 2017

Henry would be surprised

March 24, 2021March 24, 2021 Ian McArthur

Henry Kairakutei Black’s reception in Japan as a foreign-born rakugoka in the Meiji era (1868-1912) would have been markedly different to the reception foreign-born rakugoka get in Japan these days, says Sydney University Dept of Japanese lecturer, Matthew Shores [Pictured… Read moreHenry would be surprised

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Henry Black commemorated in Sydney performance

March 28, 2020March 28, 2020 Ian McArthur

Kanariya Eiraku 鹿鳴家英楽 (Sudo Tatsuya) (Photo: centre) paid tribute to Henry Black during a performance of English-language rakugo at the Sydney Japan Foundation on Saturday 7 March (2020). During the tribute Eiraku narrated Tameshi-zake試し酒 [test sake], one of the tales… Read moreHenry Black commemorated in Sydney performance

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Newly published thesis explains recent popularity of Henry Black

June 19, 2019June 20, 2019 Ian McArthur

There’s a new source of information about the resurgence of interest in Henry Black. The details are in a Masters thesis by Toshiki (Toshi) Asakura-Ward. In his abstract, Toshi explains that although Henry Black “achieved a degree of fame during… Read moreNewly published thesis explains recent popularity of Henry Black

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The advent of stenographic books

June 2, 2019June 19, 2019 Ian McArthur

I’ve been reading more about how stenography helped bring modernity to Japan in the Meiji era. The details are in Seth Jacobowitz’s book, Writing Technology in Meiji Japan – a Media History of Modern Japanese Literature and Visual Culture. The… Read moreThe advent of stenographic books

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Rare books by Henry Black go on sale

July 2, 2018July 2, 2018 Ian McArthur

A Tokyo dealer in rare and antique books, has produced an amazing catalogue of publications, many of them devoted to sokkibon (stenographic book) versions of Henry Black’s narrated tales. The catalogue is by Kagerou Bunko for the Melbourne Rare Book… Read moreRare books by Henry Black go on sale

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Henry gets a mention in Rome

April 3, 2018April 3, 2018 Ian McArthur

I was in Rome in February (2018) as a guest speaker at “Realms of Words”, a symposium hosted by the Japanese Department at Istituto italiano di Studi Orientali at Sapienza University. The symposium focused on how ideas are transmitted across… Read moreHenry gets a mention in Rome

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Researching the revival of interest in Henry

November 11, 2017March 24, 2021 Ian McArthur

Met up with Toshiki (Toshi) Asakura-Ward on 27 Oct (2017) for a chat at Sydney’s Town Hall Espresso about our mutual interest in the Japan-Australia relationship. Toshi, who has been studying at Western Sydney University, has just submitted for examination… Read moreResearching the revival of interest in Henry

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Like a classical music performance

September 17, 2017September 17, 2017 Ian McArthur

My first experience of rakugo was back in 1973 when I was staying with the Kakehashi family in Tokyo’s Sengawa. Mr Kakehashi loved showing me the best of Japanese culture, so one day he took me and my visiting parents… Read moreLike a classical music performance

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Yes, we have a sense of humour – Prof. Miyoko Sasaki

May 14, 2017September 17, 2017 Ian McArthur

JAPANESE humour studies has lost one of its greatest researchers, Professor Miyoko Sasaki. Together with her long-time colleague Heinz Morioka, Prof. Sasaki wrote Rakugo – the Popular Narrative Art of Japan (Harvard East Asian Monographs, 138, Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard … Read moreYes, we have a sense of humour – Prof. Miyoko Sasaki

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Tatekawa Koshira comes to Sydney

February 19, 2017March 24, 2021 Ian McArthur

TODAY I was at St Augustine’s Anglican Church to hear the rakugoka, Tatekawa Koshira, crack lots of jokes and puns! A big audience belly-laughed through his stories, especially the classic tale Shinigami [The God of Death].

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