Japanese manga magazine ITAN (under publisher Kodansha) announced earlier this week via its official Twitter post the confirmation that the live-action TV-drama adaptation of “Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju” will commence airing via Japanese broadcaster NHK in a 10-parter late-night series, starting 12 October 2018.

© Haruko Kumota / Kodansha

Casts for the main and major characters for the live action adaptation was also revealed in the same Twitter post:

Yakumo – played by Masaki Okada (pictured)
Yotaro – played by Ryo Ryusei
Konatsu – played by Riko Narumi
Miyokichi – played by Aya Ohmasa
Sukeroku – played by Ikusaburo Yamazaki

Mangaka Haruko Kumota also expressed her elation at the series’ live-action dramatization via her own Twitter post.

© Haruko Kumota / Kodansha

The series was based on the manga originally written and illustrated by Haruko Kumota. It serialised in the comic magazine ITAN (targeting matured female readers) from 2010 to 2016; and received an anime series adaptation that was split into two seasons – the first which aired from January – April 2016 and the second in the following year from January to late-March 2017.

Set in Tokyo in the years during and after WWII; then subsequently trickling into modern times, the story revolves around the lives and tales of traditional Japanese storytellers – known as ‘rakugoka’ – and spans three generations of its two main characters and all those related and dear to them, as they struggled to keep the traditional art of rakugo storytelling alive in a rapidly-modernising Japan.

Readers who are interested to find out more about “Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju” may like to check out details here.