Whose Story Is It Anyway? Shunpūtei Shōta and the Individuality of the Performer in Contemporary Rakugo Storytelling

The current boom in popularity of rakugo can be connected to a new trend in the relationship between performer and material. The move away from a focus on norms and rules guiding the performer in his or her treatment of a set, inalterable, performance text has been observed and even labelled a paradigm change. This article analyses the case of one of the most prolific performers of contemporary rakugo, Shunpūtei Shōta, focussing on the relationship between a persona constructed and reinforced by his presence in the media and his approach to rakugo and paying close attention to examples of his presentations of the rakugo story Toki Soba (‘The “Time-Soba-Noodle” Con Game’). The article thereby engages with a wider question regarding the approach to rakugo a performer is expected to take: should rakugo be thought of as a genre of classical performing arts, koten geinō, that needs to be preserved in a set form or as a form of contemporary entertainment, where entertaining the audience is the performer’s main goal? The article will demonstrate how Shōta engages with rakugo, breaking with formerly established norms and focussing on presenting rakugo in a way that entertains and attracts different audiences to the genre.