July 15, 2009
Rakugo's popularity boom in Japan
| Rakugo is a traditional Japanese performing art in which long humorous stories are told by one storyteller. Rakugo CD and DVD’s are popular in Japan, however the sales of music CD’s are declining due to the growing popularity of downloading music through the internet. According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan, the amount of music software, like CD’s, continues to drop after its peak in 1998 falling to 361.7 billion yen in 2008, a 40.4% decrease from 1998. Sales of Rakugo CD and DVD’s have created a great deal of attention as one of the few growing categories in the music industry. In April, Sony Music Entertainment (SME) established a new label named "Raifuku", which specializes in Rakugo software, and released its first DVD of new wave Rakugo. New wave Rakugo is easy to understand and is being used to target a new audience, particularly novices. SME is going to release a series of traditional masterpieces in the future. TBS, Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., released a DVD "Complete works of Kokintei Shincho (a famous Rakugo storyteller) Volume 1" last year and has already sold approximately 40,000 copies in spite of its relatively high cost of 31,920 yen. Tower Records Inc. held a sales campaign from April to May. This event featured SWA (a group of popular new wave Rakugo storytellers) and took place in Shibuya shops. The sales of Rakugo-related products during the campaign period increased three times more than ordinary sales. The recent Rakugo boom was created by the TV dramas "Tiger and Dragon" (TBS) and "Chiri Tote Chin" (NHK). These programs were big hits and enhanced the popularity of Rakugo among young people and helped to promote the sales of CD’s and DVD’s. |
