Japanese wisdom, through RAKUGO
From RAKUGO
to a Better Life.
Resilience, ikigai, humor — the wisdom inside Japan's 350-year-old art of storytelling, in a form you can use today. Brought to the world by Tozaburo Yanagiya.
Two Sundays. Two Solo Shows. 49→50
Night 1 — Last Solo Show in My 40s
US: Sun, Sep 20 · 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Japan: Mon, Sep 21 · 9am
Rakugo “Chōtan” (Japanese) + my first-ever 30 min of stand-up comedy
Night 2 — First Solo Show in My 50s
US: Sun, Sep 27 · 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Japan: Mon, Sep 28 · 9am — in Japan, the morning I turn 50
Rakugo “Chōtan” (English) + “Sanma of Meguro” (Japanese)
The same story, one week in Japanese, the next in English.
60 min each · Online (Zoom) · Free · Tips welcome
Just write “count me in” — we’ll send you the Zoom link.
Rakugo isn't a museum piece. It's wisdom for modern life — on resilience, ikigai, and how to laugh your way back from failure.
Seated in kimono on a cushion, with no set, no cast, and no costume changes. With only a fan and a hand cloth, one performer becomes the merchant, the lord, the child — even the ghost. It is a 350-year-old art of solo storytelling, refined since the Edo period.
Tozaburo Yanagiya is growing this art into RAKUGO — a shared art for the world, taught from Harvard, Yale, and Cornell to small weekend schools. More than Japanese culture, it is a new way for anyone to sharpen self-expression, communication, and imagination.
It begins with the official method from his book, A New World of Rakugo.
ONLINE SCHOOL
From anywhere in the world, for kids and adults alike. Built on the official method from A New World of Rakugo — grow the power to speak and to connect.
See classes→EVENTS / BOOKING
Performances, keynotes, corporate training, school programs — in English or Japanese. From cultural festivals to the Carnegie Hall stage.
Make a request→BOOKS / METHOD
A New World of Rakugo (Sairyusha), plus two English volumes published on Amazon Kindle in 2026 — the origin of the method, and its newest word to the world.
See the book→
Two books, written for the world.
After seven years performing rakugo in English in New York, I kept meeting the same misunderstandings about Japan — kintsugi, ikigai, samurai, and now AI. These two books are my answer to the questions people actually ask me after a show.
- Volume 1The Art of Laughing at Yourself
- Volume 2What AI Can't Steal
From New York to classrooms everywhere.
Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall
RAKUGO Solo Performance
Not just a performer — a guide bringing RAKUGO's wisdom to the world.
Apprenticed in 1999, took the name Tozaburo Yanagiya III in 2014. The Agency for Cultural Affairs Award, and the first English Rakugo ever at Carnegie Hall. On the foundation of a master performer, he now brings the Japanese wisdom inside RAKUGO to modern minds worldwide. Why the world? Here is the story.
Read the full story →Get closer to the world of RAKUGO.
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