What Makes the Japanese Laugh?
Essay on Japanese humor: rakugo performances, senryuu, and some truly atrocious
bilingual riddles. Now on the Internet Archive.
Rakugo: Japanese Sit-Down Comedy
Internet Archived article on traditional comic performance with some sample
stories.
Rakugo: History and Problems Faced Today
Well-thought-out high school essay on contemporary rakugo. It looks like the
school took the page down; you can still find it on the Internet Archive.
Haiku Humor
“Yesterday it worked. Today it is not working. Windows is like that.”
Just one of several haiku-style error messages.
Japan Lite
Columnist Amy Chavez chronicles the lighter side of life in Japan for the Japan
Times.
The Fascinating Postcards of Kokkei
Shimbun
Gags and human foibles are the focus of these postcards from the satirical magazine
Kokkei Shimbun – from an ants-eye view of a woman walking under an umbrella, to an elegant
lady who didn’t see a Wet Paint sign.