Rakugo

A lot of my exposure to Japanese culture comes by way of Japanese anime, manga, and literature.  It's not the most efficient way to be learn - it's kinda like trying to look at a landscape painting through a keyhole.  One of the things that you typically don't get exposed to in the West is Japanese theater and comedy.  Part of this is probably because puns and certain comical trends just don't translate very well into English.

Most anime fans are probably familiar with manzai comedy, which relies on two-man teams.  Think of classic Western comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy - one man is the funny-guy and the other is the straight-man.  We're less familiar with a more minimalist form of performance comedy - the one-man skit performance known as Rakugo.

Rakugo is similar to stand-up comedian acts like Louie Anderson and Gabriel Iglesias.  One man performs the skits and plays all of the parts, using changes in his physical position on the stage, his body language and posture, and his voice and speech style to convey each character.  You may not have ever heard a full Rakugo performance, but if you've ever watched Fullmetal Alchemist, you've at least heard part of Jugemu Jugemu.

Rakugo acts should really be viewed rather than just listened to, but if you can't get to your nearest rakugo performance, you can at least listen to some translated stories here: Rakugo.  Some of the stories do require a little bit of understanding about Japanese culture, but the hosts do a wonderful job of explaining things like the festivals used for backdrops for the stories or cultural practices, and of course the actual performance of the rakugo skits is top-notch.

So far, I think that the podcast has been family-friendly, so it's a good way to expose kids to something outside of their usual culture.  If you have an interest in Japanese culture or stand-up comedy, or you just want something to listen to on your commute that doesn't require a lot of concentration, I think you'll enjoy this podcast.