Kōdan (講談, formerly known as kōshaku (講釈)), is a style of traditional oral Japanese storytelling.
The form evolved out of lectures on historical or literary topics given to high-ranking nobles of the Heian period, changing over the centuries to be adopted by the general samurai class and eventually by commoners, and eventually, by the end of the Edo period, declining in favor of new types of entertainment and storytelling such as naniwa-bushi. It was at this time that the term kōshaku was abandoned and kōdan adopted.
Kōdan remained strong for many years, and gained a new popularity after the Meiji Restoration
(1868), which, being a quite major event, supplied the performers with
much new material. At one point, there were fifty performance halls in
Tokyo devoted primarily or exclusively to kōdan. By the beginning of World War II, there were still six or seven.
Though the arrival of movies, records, and other forms of entertainment eclipsed kōdan
in the early 20th century, the art form contributed heavily to various
forms of Japanese theater and to the development in Japan of the modern
popular fiction novel.
Today, after a failed attempt to revive the art in 1974, there are four schools of kōdan and only a very few performers between them.
Kōdan is usually performed sitting behind a desk or lectern, and using wooden clappers
or a fan to mark the rhythm of the recitation. This derives from the
origin of the art form in cultural, literary or historical lectures
given in the Heian period courts.
During the Muromachi period (1333-1568), the form was adopted or revived by the general samurai class for educational purposes.
Rōkyoku (浪曲; also called naniwa-bushi, 浪花節) is a genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing. Generally accompanied by a shamisen, rōkyoku became very popular in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.
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