Shopping Guide
In August and September 2012, a specially made rickshaw emblazoned with five of the main characters from the anime Joshiraku, which depicts female rakugo (a type of traditional Japanese entertainment) storytellers, ran the streets of Akihabara, drawing the attention of passersby. There is a reason why a collaboration ensued between the people in charge of the anime and the people in charge of the rickshaws. The reason can be seen in the last part of the anime in which the ending theme song plays. In this part, there is a jump cut where one character energetically yells, “Soiyaa! Soiyaa!” while rhythmically clapping her hands. So, what is the reason?
To understand why they collaborated, one must first learn a bit more about Akihabara. Actually, Akihabara became known as a town for electronics beginning in the Showa era (1926-1989). It has only become known as a town hosting subcultural groups as it is known today beginning in the Heisei era (1989 to the present). Going further back to the Meiji era (1868-1912), Akihabara was a place with a lot of rickshaws, making it the center of transportation at the time.
That place where a lot of rickshaws ran gave birth to a rakugo story titled Hantai Guruma, which is a remake of Osaka’s rakugo story Irachi Guruma in which the setting has been changed, making Hantai Guruma a Tokyo version of the Osaka rakugo story. The first half of the story is about a man in a hurry riding a rickshaw being driven by a slow rickshaw man, and the latter half of the story is about the same man riding in another rickshaw being driven by a very fast rickshaw man. The rider’s destiny is swayed by riding in two opposite rickshaws. In Hantai Guruma, there is a scene that shows a rickshaw man spiritedly yelling, “Soiyaa! Soiyaa!.”
Thus, the “Soiyaa! Soiyaa!” cheer from the aforementioned ending theme song portion of Joshiraku was based on this one scene from Hantai Guruma, and that is the reason behind the collaboration.
Akihabara and rickshaws have been portrayed in different forms - rakugo in the olden days and anime in the present. The rakugo story Hantai Guruma was born out of Akihabara, the center of transportation, while Akihabara, the town of subcultural groups, gave birth to the anime Joshiraku. Along with the changing times, avenues for portraying entertainment change as well. In this foundation lies a history that has been built up from the past.
Source:
http://www.radiokaikan.jp/press/?p=5252 (Japanese)
Source article written by mouseunit
