Books / Method

RAKUGO begins on the page.

Tozaburo Yanagiya's thinking and method now live in three books — one in Japanese, where it began, and two in English, written for the world. They are the foundation of every class, performance, and training program.

RAKUGO WISDOM SERIES · AMAZON KINDLE · 2026

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 1

The Art of Laughing at Yourself

Lessons in Self-Acceptance from Japan's 350-Year-Old Art of Comic Storytelling

Rakugo takes place in a long house — a crowded row of rented rooms where nobody improves and nobody leaves. It sits at the opposite end of the shelf from self-improvement. Ten chapters on living well while remaining unfinished.

“Kintsugi is not about your trauma” — ten corrections to the Japanese wisdom the world was sold
Appendix: the complete Carnegie Hall script of SHINIGAMI, in English (Kindle exclusive)
About 25,000 words · 10 chapters

Amazon Kindle · $4.99 · 2026

Read on Amazon→

Volume 2

What AI Can't Steal

Lessons from a 350-Year-Old Profession

The fear of being replaced by a machine was answered three and a half centuries ago, by a profession built entirely out of things that cannot be copied: apprenticeship, timing, silence, and a room with living people in it. Ten chapters on working in the age of the machine.

“The Two Rooms” — where human work ends and machine work begins
On *ma*, the silence that speaks, and a cure for stage fright — for anyone who speaks in public
About 21,000 words · 10 chapters

Amazon Kindle · $4.99 · 2026

Read on Amazon→

Both available now on Amazon Kindle. Visit the Amazon Author Page →

THE ORIGIN · IN JAPANESE

A New World of Rakugo

By Tozaburo Yanagiya · Sairyusha · 2023 · ISBN 978-4-7791-2889-9

Tracing rakugo's history — showing that even the “classical” forms are in fact recent — the book lays out how to carry RAKUGO to the world: the “sit-down comedy” abstraction of rakugo, English Rakugo, and heritage-language education for children. It is the source text of the official method behind every class and program.

Endorsed by Prof. Aaron Gerow (Yale University)

Buy on Amazon→In Japanese, from Sairyusha.

What's next

RAKUGO Method — a systematic online course in speaking and storytelling
RAKUGO WISDOM audiobooks — read by the storyteller himself
A Japanese-language book on self-acceptance, through rakugo

Books & materials

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