Traditional Japanese performing art takes center stage at Hyatt

Rakugo performer Katsura Sunshine tells a story during last Saturday’s “Online Rakugo” at the Hyatt Regency Saipan Ballroom. While unable to perform in person, Sunshine performed live several comedic stories via Zoom. Sunshine’s performance was displayed on the ballroom’s multiple projector screens. (JOSHUA SANTOS)

An audience of 160 converged at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom last Saturday for the virtual performance of a traditional Japanese art form called rakugo that dates back to more than 400 years ago during the Edo period
The event, called “Online Rakugo” and made possible through a collaboration between the Consular Office of Japan in Saipan and the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands, featured the online performance of rakugo performer Katsura Sunshine.

While unable to perform in person, Sunshine performed live several comedic stories via Zoom. Sunshine’s performance was displayed on the ballroom’s multiple projector screens.

Rakugo features stories with humor endings told by one person who will often play many characters and advance the story through hand gestures and many other physical movements.

Consul Ono Kazuhiko, who gave brief remarks before Sunshine’s performance, said his appreciation for rakugo comes from its universal appeal and relatability.

“There are wide varieties of comedies throughout the world, but in most cases, the sense of humor is much more accommodating to [a] certain region. [For] example, the sense of humor in stand-up comedy in the U.S. may not be the same as in the United Kingdom, and vice versa. …Rakugo covers [a] wide variety of audiences, regardless of their origin as the humorous tales and comic storytelling is based on everyday lives of ordinary people,” said Ono.

Saipan Tribune was told Saturday by Japanese consulate staff member James Sakamoto that around 170 people came for the event, mostly students from Kagman High School, Mount Carmel School, Marianas High School, Grace Christian Academy, and the Japanese Society School of the Northern Mariana Islands. These students are either members of Japanese clubs in their schools, or have expressed an interest in learning more about Japanese culture and the Japanese language.

During the question-and-answer at the end of his performance, a member of the audience asked what wish Sunshine make for his daruma doll, which sat behind him while he performed. A daruma doll is a hollow, round, traditional Japanese doll that is a symbol of good luck and is sometimes sold with both eyes unpainted. The doll’s owner would then paint one eye after making a wish or deciding on a goal that the doll will help the owner achieve, and paint the other eye when the owner fulfills that goal or wish.

Sunshine’s daruma doll had one eye painted. He told the audience that his wish is to do a rakugo special for Netflix and he jestingly urged young members of the audience with connections to Netflix to put in a good word for him. If his Netflix aspirations do fall through, Sunshine said he would like to fly out to Saipan to perform live and paint the other eye.

Sunshine also shared during the question-and-answer that he was performing in Broadway in New York City for six months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and that he will resume touring and performing in the early part of next year where he will regularly go back-and-forth and performing in New York City and London.

Sunshine, whose real name is Gregory Robic, is a Canadian who initially went to Japan in 1999 to study noh, another form of traditional Japanese theater. In 2008 Robic became an apprentice for three years under rakugo master Katsura Bunshi, who gave him the stage name Katsura Sunshine. After his apprenticeship, Robic embarked on a five-year world tour performing as Katsura Sunshine in five continents and 15 countries.