profile
鹿鳴家 一輪
英語落語家 英語落語協会 理事
玉すだれ 白戸流 名取
近年、『あかね噺』などをきっかけに海外でも落語への関心が高まり、英語落語会には海外からのお客様が多く足を運んでくださるようになりました。日本人の英語学習者など、これまで落語にあまり馴染みのなかった方々にも楽しんでいただけることに、英語で落語を演じる意味を感じています。
落語に登場するのは、おっちょこちょいな人、短気な人、見栄っ張りな人、ちょっとずるい人――どこにでもいそうな人たちです。江戸の町を舞台にした噺でも、そこに描かれている人間の可笑しさや弱さは、今を生きる私たちとそれほど変わりません。
時代が変わっても、国が変わっても、人は人。だからこそ、落語の笑いには言葉や文化を越えて共感できるものがあるのだと思います。日本の中だけでなく、もっと多くの海外の方にも、この小さな座布団の上から広がる落語の世界を届けていきたいと思っています。
英語落語歴15余年。落語歴15年 古典落語を桂文雀師匠、金原亭龍馬師匠、金原亭小駒師匠などに師事。英語落語は鹿鳴家英楽氏に学び、現在のレパートリーは、古典落語21席、英語落語30席。玉すだれは白戸流おと姫師匠に師事。
2020年に一般社団法人 英語落語協会を立ち上げ、現在は英語落語協会主催の英語落語会、企業・大学・その他団体の依頼で英語落語と玉すだれを演じる。2015年より海外での公演を開始し、アメリカ（Phoenix, NY, West Coast), the U.K.（London, Manchester, Edinburgh）, the Philippines (Manila, Davao), Finland, 韓国, Georgia, Austria, Denmark.などで公演。
もうひとつの顔
“Rakugo in English? Can audiences really get it?”
It was a question Ichirin often heard when she first started performing Rakugo in English. But she soon became captivated by the joy of making international audiences laugh and discovered that Rakugo could travel surprisingly well across languages and cultures.
In recent years, manga such as Akane-banashi have helped spark growing interest in Rakugo overseas, and more international guests are coming to English Rakugo performances. The audience also includes many Japanese people studying English, as well as those who may never have been particularly interested in Rakugo before. For Ichirin, reaching these new audiences is one of the most rewarding parts of performing Rakugo in English.
The characters in Rakugo are wonderfully human: people who are careless, quick-tempered, vain, or sometimes just a little too clever for their own good. Even when a story is set in old Edo, the people in it are not so different from us today. Times change, countries change, but people are still people. That is what makes Rakugo so universal. Its humor, warmth, and very human characters can connect with audiences wherever they come from.
Ichirin hopes to share this unique Japanese storytelling tradition with more people, not only in Japan but around the world.
She studied classical Japanese Rakugo under Katura Bunjyaku, Kokontei Kokoma, and others, and English Rakugo under Kanariya Eiraku. Her repertoire currently includes 21 traditional Japanese Rakugo stories and 30 stories in English.
She also trained in Tamasudare under Otohime Shirato, a master instructor of the Shirato School, and holds the rank of Natori.
As a director of the English Rakugo Association, Ichirin organizes and performs in Rakugo events both in Japan and internationally. Since 2015, she has performed throughout Japan and overseas, including in the United States (Phoenix, New York, and the West Coast), the United Kingdom (London, Manchester, and Edinburgh), the Philippines (Manila and Davao), Finland, Korea, Georgia, Austria, and Denmark.
Ichirin
Director, English Rakugo Association
Natori, Shirato School of Tamasudare
Ichirin Off Stage
