A shy kid walks into a comedy dojo and accidentally becomes art.
Haruki Masato is a shy youth who gets swept away when he happens upon a rakugo performance. He knocks on the door of rakugo master Imadoka Shoroku in Tokyo’s old downtown and somehow gets taken on as a disciple, and embarks on a path to become a rakugo comedian under the name of Imadoka Koharu.
Acting
Pierre Taki's gruff tenderness — masterclass in restraint.
Direction
Hayashiya lets silences breathe like another character.
Writing
Rakugo stories nested like Russian dolls, echoing the plot.
Director
Shinpei Hayashiya
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rakugo performers traditionally train 10+ years before their 'debut'; the film compresses this to make the emotional arc land.
Wasabi Yanagiya, who plays Koharu, is actual rakugo royalty — his casting wasn't acting, it was ancestry.
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