### Memories of bitter words and tours - The voice of Hikoroku Hayashiya (late 1970s)

### Memories of bitter words and tours - The voice of Hikoroku Hayashiya (late 1970s)

In 1977, the world of rakugo was undergoing a period of great change due to the spread of television and the decrease in the number of yose (storytelling theaters). Shozo Hayashiya VIII, later Hayashiya Hikoroku, said, "The lack of Yose is a fatal wound in the world of rakugo," and strongly admonished his pupils and young performers to "endure poverty like Unsui. As people's entertainment diversifies with the rapid economic growth of Japan, Rinke Hicoroku's firm determination to preserve classical rakugo is evident in his stern rejection of the trend among young people to become TV personalities, and in his assertion that "one who pursues two hares will never catch a rabbit. He also warned his disciple Harufutei Koasa, who was at the height of his popularity, that he had "no sense of remorse," expressing his concern that he might lose sight of the true path of his art. His remarks went beyond a simple teacher-disciple relationship, and resonated as a complaint against the ent
ire world of rakugo.

Meanwhile, in 1979, at the age of 85, Hikoroku was still touring the country. At performances in Hakodate and Obihiro, which he visited at the invitation of the Labor Union, he saw audiences studying rakugo on records and tapes, and was deeply impressed by the seriousness with which the performers took rakugo. At a time when light-hearted laughter was increasingly sought after at yose in Tokyo, rakugo was taken seriously in the provinces and had taken root as a culture. For Hikoroku, touring the countryside was not just a business venture, but an important opportunity to communicate with the audience that sustained the lifeblood of the art of rakugo. These testimonies vividly convey the image of the last great billboard performer who tried to preserve the classics even as the waves of the TV era swept over him.