Japanese Cultural Incursion

Friday 17 June

Japanese Rakugo and Kyogen Cultural Incursion

This year, our Year 9, 10, 11 and 12 Japanese classes were privileged to receive a culturally unique experience. On Friday 17 June, the bilingual entertainer and educator, Jarrod Hoare, who is trained in various forms of Japanese comedy, presented inspiring cultural insights into Japan through Rakugo, the art of Japanese storytelling with one presenter taking on multiple roles, and Kyogen, a type of traditional comic theatre.

 

Jarrod先生’s use of student engagement and incorporation of Australian culture into Japanese traditional theatre provided an enjoyable, enthralling and entertaining experience for all participants, teachers included. 

 

Jarrod 先生’s storytelling and comedy took inspiration from his own life as someone who is heavily associated with the tourism industry. He was offered a grant by the government to study traditional Japanese comedic art forms, so he had plenty of stories to tell and inspired students to continue their Japanese learning. 

Not only did the incursion improve our cultural knowledge, but also our language knowledge, as the performance was conducted in both English and Japanese, with chances to learn unique words and experience a unique dialect, Kansai-ben (関西弁) from the Osaka region.

 

The performance overall was not only a great motivator for students, but also allowed us to gain a beneficial insight into Japanese comedic arts, broadening our cultural knowledge of Japan - something that I feel is integral when studying Japanese. 

 

Aston Hewet, Year 12