アカデミー外国語映画（えいが）賞（しょう）受賞（じゅしょう）
Screening of an Academy Award-Winning Movie (Best Foreign Film)
映画「おくりびと」上映（じょうえい）会
"Departures"
(with English subtitles)

◆日時（にちじ）：2009年4月17日 & 24日（金曜日）午後 6:00 ~ 8:00
Date: 6-8:00 pm on Fridays, April 17 & 24, 2009
◆場所（ばしょ）：HIB (Humanities Instructional Building) Room 135 (= #610 on UCI campus map)
Place: HIB (Humanities Instructional Building) Room 135
◆入場無料（むりょう）
Free admission
◆Open to public (The room holds 75 people.) Reservation closed/full.

◆ Preview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6onZVeucA1c)

◆Plot summary for Okuribito (2008) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1069238/)

Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.
( Written by Regent Releasing)

落語（らくご）
Rakugo - Live Japanese sit-down comedy
(with English subtitles projected on a screen)
落語家：三遊亭京楽（さんゆうていきょうらく）
Comic story teller: Sanyuutee Kyooraku

◆日時（にちじ）Date：2009年５月２３日（土曜日）午後 ５:00 ~ ７:00
Date: 5-7:00 pm on Saturday, May 23, 2009
◆場所（ばしょ）：HIB (Humanities Instructional Building) Room 135 (= #610 on UCI campus map)
Place: HIB (Humanities Instructional Building) Room 135
◆入場無料（むりょう）
Free admission
◆Open to public (The room holds only 75 people.)

◆落語家　三遊亭京楽のホームページ　(http://kyorakusan.com/)
Comic story teller, Sanyuutei Kyooraku's Homepage

◆落語と三遊亭京楽
　　落語とは、１６２８年[寛永５年]に京都の僧侶、安楽庵策伝（あんらくあんさくでん）が庶民から集めた笑い話を集め本として醒睡笑（せいすいしょう）、８巻１０３９話を作成。それが、落語の元祖とされている。
　　おそらく正座したまま、すべてを表現する芸は世界に落語だけであろう。言葉と仕草、小道具などを使い座ったまま走ったり、歩いたり、時には飛ぶことも表現してしまう。泣いたり、食べたり、怒ったり、笑ったりの表現を一人の芸人がすべてをこなしてします。正座をしたり、和服を着たり現在の形になったのは江戸時代後期のようである。
　　江戸時代の庶民の人情話が今の社会、国境を越えても通用する事を実感され、この落語を通じて日本人の人情の素晴らしさを世界に広めようと自らの財産をつぎ込んで活動をしている落語家がいるのです。その方の名前は、三遊亭京楽さんです。
　　多くのしきたりがある落語界の中で三遊亭京楽師匠は、１９８６年に三遊亭円楽師匠に入門。見習い、前座を経て１９９０年に仮プロとして２つ目に昇進。１９９２年にプロとして真打（しんうち）に昇進。２つ目から真打は、通常は１０年前後かかるところが２年で異例の昇進劇。１９９８年、初の海外公演、ニューヨーク、ボストン、ロサンゼルスにて活動をされています。１９９６年より、アメリカ人を対象に江戸時代の古典落語、人情物を字幕スーパーを付けて、日本の公演と同じ状態で行なう。落語は言葉と表情が一番の見せどころ、ご自身の自国語ではない英語では人情表現が出来ない。日本語で喋り英語の字幕を付けて理解してもらった方が人情が伝わりやすと実感されたようです。さて、２００９年５月には、いよいよロサンゼルス、サンフランシスコで講座を行ないます。皆さんのお越しをお待ちしております。　（文責　清水好)

◆What is Rakugo? (http://www.english-rakugo.com/english_version/english_what.html)

Rakugo can be best described as Japanese sit-down comedy of comic story telling. Just as there is stand-up comedy in the western countries, there is sit-down comedy in Japan. Most obviously, the difference is that the performer sits on his knees when he performs. It requires some training to sit like that for a long time without letting the legs fall in sleep. The performer wears traditional formal Japanese clothes (Kimono) and sometimes wears a pair of long wide pants (Hakama) and/or a formal jacket (Haori).

In Rakugo only the conversations between characters appear in the story. Therefore, the performer must be able play the role of each distinct character. There are always several characters in a Rakugo story. The performers play each character by changing voice, facial expression, mannerisms, speech, etc.. In most cases the characters have strong stereotypical personalities and characteristics so that as the performer switches from one character to another the audience readily detects the change.

Some of the popular character stereotypes are: 1. Stupid, hasty, rash, forgetful, clumsy; 2. Smart, reliable, short-tempered; 3. Pretentious, vain; 4. Cunning, tricky, quick-witted; 5. Authority figure, man in power; 6. Canny, stingy, miserly, mean; 7. Sexy; 8. Liar, brag, untruthful; and 9. Non-human characters.

(read more at http://www.english-rakugo.com/english_version/english_what.html)

Sample of Rakugo on Youtube: 春風亭小朝