Katsura Sunshine

In this Japanese name, the family name is Katsura.
Katsura Sunshine

Katsura Sunshine
Born Gregory Robic
(1970-04-06) April 6, 1970
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation Traditional Japanese “Rakugo” comic storyteller, television personality, playwright, composer

Katsura Sunshine (桂 三輝 Katsura Sanshain, born Gregory Robic, 6 April 1970) is a traditional Japanese rakugo comic storyteller and television personality, currently residing in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. He was also known in Toronto for his musical version of Aristophanes' "Clouds".

Biography

Early life

Sunshine was born in Toronto, Ontario, to parents of Slovenian origin. He studied classics at the University of Toronto, where he got his first introduction to the works of the ancient Greek comic playwright, Aristophanes. He became involved in translating, adapting, and performing in versions of Aristophanes' comedies for the Department of Classics.

In September 1994, his version of Aristophanes' The Clouds opened at the Poor Alex Theatre in Toronto, and, buoyed by positive reviews, ran for 15 months before embarking on a tour of central and eastern Canada.

Other works of theatre produced include the musicals Lysistrata, Assemblywomen, The Tokyo Affair, as well as two operas for children, Allegra's Magic Flute, and Orphea and the Golden Harp.

Rakugo

On September 1, 2008, Sunshine was accepted as an apprentice to the rakugo storytelling master, Katsura Bunshi VI (then named Katsura Sanshi), and subsequently received the name Katsura Sunshine. In the rakugo tradition, he received both his master's last name and part of the first (his master, Sanshi combined the first part of his name, “San”, meaning “three”, with the Japanese word for “Shine”, and gave it the Japanese pronunciation of the English word “Sunshine”).

Sunshine received his professional debut in Singapore on April 26, 2009,[1][2] and completed his three-year rakugo apprenticeship in November 2012. Sunshine has performed in Singapore, the United States and Canada, as well as throughout Japan. He currently resides in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. In July 2012, he opened his own rakugo theatre in his home in Ise, called the Ise Kawasaki Kikitei, where he regularly performs rakugo stories.[3][4]

While there are some foreign amateur rakugo storytellers,[5] Sunshine is the only foreign professional rakugo storyteller at the present time.[1][6][7] Sunshine is also the first ever foreign professional rakugo storyteller in the history of “Kamigata” rakugo (Kamigata Rakugo Association), which is based in Osaka, and only the second ever professional in the history of Japan.[6] The first professional was British Kairakutei Black (1858-1923), who was an “Edo” rakugo storyteller.[8]

Sunshine currently appears regularly on three television programs in Japan,[9] and has been the subject of several short documentaries made for television news.

Notes

  1. 1 2 http://www.segalcentre.org/katsura-sunshine-hilarious-japanese-story-telling-in-english/
  2. ↑ http://sanshi.laff.jp/blog/2009/04/post-b156.html (in Japanese)
  3. ↑ http://iseshima.keizai.biz/headline/1449/ (in Japanese)
  4. ↑ Katsura Sunshine's blog (in Japanese)
  5. ↑ http://eigo-rakugo.com/profiles.html (in Japanese)
  6. 1 2 Katsura Sunshine's blog (in Japanese)
  7. ↑ http://www.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/canada_e/Cultural_Events/katsura_sunshine_2011.html
  8. ↑ Sunshine's essay concerning the difference between Kamigata(Osaka) rakugo and Edo(Tokyo) rakugo
  9. ↑ TV appearance on Katsura Sunshine's website

External links

Katsura Sunshine's website

Interview

Interviews in Japanese

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