The Kyoto City International Foundation (KCIF) organized an English "rakugo," or comic storytelling, performance at Seiganji Temple in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, on April 29. The temple is regarded as the birthplace of rakugo. There were 70 people in attendance, including 20 foreigners, who all enjoyed the unique touch of the traditional storytelling art.

The rakugo performance was planned by the Kyoto Guide Club, a volunteer group associated with KCIF. It was performed by members of "Sho-Sho-Tei," a group of amateur rakugo devotees that periodically hold English rakugo courses at the KCIF facility in Sakyo Ward. The members presented five rakugo skits in fluent English that included "Irachi Guruma," or a man in a hurry, "Yadoya Gataki," or the avenger in the inn, "Kinshu Banya," or a teetotal guard station, and others.

In the skit "A man in a hurry," a rickshaw runner takes a passenger on a runaway ride and finally reaches a place covered with beautiful flowers. The dazed passenger asks the runner, "Where am I?" to which he answers with the punch line, "This is heaven," drawing hearty laughter from the audience.

A graduate student who saw rakugo for the first time was deeply impressed and said, "The English pronunciation was very good and I enjoyed the gestures and facial expressions very much."