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Rakugo

Rakugo (落語, literally 'story with a fall')[1] is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment, traditionally performed in yose theatres.[2] The lone storyteller (落語家, rakugoka) sits on a raised platform, a kōza (高座). Using only a paper fan (扇子, sensu) and a small cloth (手拭, tenugui) as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical (or sometimes sentimental) story. The story always involves the dialogue of two or more characters. The difference between the characters is depicted only through change in pitch, tone, and a slight turn of the head.

Rakugoka at Sanma Festival

Description edit

The speaker is in the middle of the stage, and his purpose is to stimulate the general hilarity with tone and limited, yet specific body gestures. The monologue always ends with a narrative stunt (punch line) known as ochi (落ち, lit. "fall") or sage (下げ, lit. "lowering"), consisting of a sudden interruption of the wordplay flow. Twelve kinds of ochi are codified and recognized, with more complex variations having evolved through time from the more basic forms.[3]

Early rakugo has developed into various styles, including the shibaibanashi (芝居噺, theatre discourses), the ongyokubanashi (音曲噺, musical discourses), the kaidanbanashi (see kaidan (怪談噺, ghost discourses)), and ninjōbanashi (人情噺, sentimental discourses). In many of these forms the ochi, which is essential to the original rakugo, is absent.

Rakugo has been described as "a sitcom with one person playing all the parts" by Noriko Watanabe, assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Baruch College.[4]

Lexical background edit

The precursor of rakugo was called karukuchi (軽口, literally 'light-mouth').[1]: 38  The oldest appearance of the kanji which refers specifically to this type of performance dates back to 1787, but at the time the characters themselves (落とし噺) were normally read as otoshibanashi ("dropping story").

In the middle of the Meiji period (1868–1912) the expression rakugo first started being used,[1]: 45  and it came into common usage only in the Shōwa period (1926–1989).

History edit

 
Shinjuku suehirotei is a famous vaudeville theater in Tokyo which hosts rakugo events.

One of the predecessors of rakugo is considered to be a humorous story in setsuwa. The Konjaku Monogatarishū and the Uji Shūi Monogatari were setsuwa collections compiled from the Heian period (794–1185) to the Kamakura period (1185–1333); they contained many funny stories, and Japanese Buddhist monks preached Buddhism by quoting them. In Makura no Sōshi, it is described that the monks had gained a reputation for their beautiful voices and narrative arts.[5]

The direct ancestor of rakugo is a humorous story among the stories narrated by otogishū in the Sengoku Period (1467–1615) . Otogishū were scholars, Buddhist monks and tea masters who served daimyo (feudal lord), and their duty was to give lectures on books to daimyo and to be a partner for chatting. Anrakuan Sakuden, who was an otogishū and a monk of the Jōdo-shū, is often said to be the originator of rakugo, and his 8 volumes of Seisui Sho contain 1000 stories, including the original stories of rakugo.[5][6]

Around 1670 in the Edo period (1603–1867), three storytellers appeared who were regarded as the first rakugoka. Tsuyuno Gorobe in Kyoto, Yonezawa Hikohachi in Osaka, and Shikano Buzaemon in Edo built simple huts around the same age and began telling funny stories to the general public for a price. Rakugo in this period was called Tsujibanashi, but once it lost popularity, rakugo declined for about 100 years.[6]

In 1786, Utei Enba presided over a rakugo show at a ryōtei (traditional Japanese restaurant) in Mukōjima. He is regarded as the father of the restoration of rakugo. His performances led to the establishment of the first theater dedicated to rakugo (yose) by Sanshōtei Karaku and Sanyūtei Enshō, and the revival of rakugo.[6]

During the Edo period, thanks to the emergence of the merchant class of the chōnin, the rakugo spread to the lower classes. Many groups of performers were formed, and collections of texts were finally printed. During the 17th century the actors were known as hanashika (found written as 噺家, 咄家, or 話家; "storyteller"), corresponding to the modern term, rakugoka (落語家, "person of the falling word").

Before the advent of modern rakugo there were the kobanashi (小噺): short comical vignettes ending with an ochi, popular between the 17th and the 19th centuries. These were enacted in small public venues, or in the streets, and printed and sold as pamphlets. The origin of kobanashi is to be found in the Kinō wa kyō no monogatari (Yesterday Stories Told Today, c. 1620), the work of an unknown author collecting approximately 230 stories describing the common class.

Types Of Ochi edit

’’Niwaka Ochi’’: An Ochi using a pun, it is also called 'Jiguchi Ochi.'

’’Hyoshi Ochi’’: An Ochi that uses repeated punchlines.

’’Sakasa Ochi’’: An Ochi with a twist punchline, one where roles are reversed

’’Kangae Ochi’’: A punchline that is hard to understand but people will laugh after pondering for a while.

‘’Mawari Ochi’’: A punchline that ends the story by returning to the beginning.

’’Mitate Ochi’’: An Ochi that uses unexpected punchlines.

’’Manuke Ochi’’: An Ochi that ends the story with a dumb or ridiculous joke

’’Totan Ochi’’: An Ochi using a signature phrase.

’’Buttsuke Ochi’’: An ending with a punch line based on a misunderstanding.

’’Shigusa Ochi’’: A punchline that uses a physical gesture.

Important contributors edit

 
Asakusa Engei Hall is another famous vaudeville theater in Tokyo which hosts rakugo events.

Many artists contributed to the development of rakugo. Some were simply performers, but many also composed original works.

Among the more famous rakugoka of the Tokugawa period were performers like Anrakuan Sakuden (1554–1642), the author of the Seisuishō (Laughter to Chase Away Sleep, 1628), a collection of more than 1,000 stories. In Edo (today's Tokyo) there also lived Shikano Buzaemon [ja] (1649–1699) who wrote the Shikano Buzaemon kudenbanashi (Oral Instruction Discourses of Shikano Buzaemon) and the Shika no makifude (The Deer's Brush, 1686), a work containing 39 stories, eleven of which are about the kabuki milieu. Tatekawa Enba I [ja] (1743–1822) was author of the Rakugo rokugi (The Six Meanings of Rakugo).

Kyoto was the home of Tsuyu no Gorobei I [ja] (1643–1703), who is considered the father of the rakugo tradition of the Kamigata area (Kamigata rakugo (上方落語)).[7] His works are included in the Karukuchi tsuyu ga hanashi (Jocular Tsuyu's Stories, date of composition unknown), containing many word games, episodes from the lives of famous literary authors, and plays on the different dialects from the Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto areas.

Of a similar structure is the Karukuchi gozen otoko (One-liners: An Important Storyteller, date of publication unknown) in which are collected the stories of Yonezawa Hikohachi I [ja], who lived in Ōsaka towards the end of the 17th century. An example from Yonezawa Hikohachi's collection:

A man faints in a bathing tub. In the great confusion following, a doctor arrives who takes his pulse and calmly gives the instructions: "Pull the plug and let the water out." Once the water has flowed completely out of the tub he says: "Fine. Now put a lid on it and carry the guy to the cemetery."

For the poor man is already dead. The joke becomes clearer when one notes that a Japanese traditional bathing tub is shaped like a coffin.

Current performers edit

Current rakugo artists include Tachibanaya Enzō, Katsura Bunshi VI, Tachibanaya Takezō II, Tatekawa Shinosuke and Hayashiya Shōzō (9th). Furthermore, many people regarded as more mainstream comedians originally trained as rakugoka apprentices, even adopting stage names given to them by their masters. Some examples include Akashiya Sanma, Shōfukutei Tsurube II, and Shōfukutei Shōhei.[8] Another famous rakugo performer, Shijaku Katsura II, was known outside Japan for his performances of rakugo in English.

Titles edit

  • The Peony Lantern (Botan Dōrō) (ja:牡丹灯籠, Botandōrō) – a kaidanbanashi, or ghost story
  • Jugemu (ja:寿限無, Jugemu) – the life of a boy with a ridiculously long name
  • Manjuu kowai (ja:饅頭こわい, Manjuu kowai, Manjū are scary) – a group of boys try to scare off a boaster[9]
  • Meguro no Sanma (ja:目黒のさんま, Meguro no sanma, Pacific saury of Meguro) – a naive lord enjoys commoners' foods[10]
  • Momotarō (桃太郎, Momotarō) – a meta-gag in which a father is mocked by his son because of his bad storytelling of the Japanese folktale Momotarō[11]
  • Mt. Head (ja:頭山, Atamayama) – a tree begins growing out of a man's head
  • Neko no sara (ja:猫の皿, Neko no sara, The cat's plate) – a man tries to outwit the owner of a piece of antique porcelain[12]
  • Shibahama (ja:芝浜, Shibahama) – a good-for-nothing husband finds a huge sum of money[13]
  • Teresuko (ja:てれすこ, Teresuko) – cash reward to whom that could identify a strange fish

Notable rakugoka edit

Edo (Tokyo) edit

Kamigata (Osaka) edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Tanaka, Sakurako (1993). Talking through the text : Rakugo and the oral/literal interface (Master thesis). University of British Columbia. pp. 30, 45. doi:10.14288/1.0076952. from the original on 3 May 2023.
  2. ^ Sweeney, Amin (1979). "Rakugo: Professional Japanese Storytelling" (pdf). Asian Folklore Studies (in Japanese). Nanzan University. 38 (1): 29. (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2023. (Bibliography: volume 38(1), article)
  3. ^ Rakugo: universal laughter, Tim Ryan. Retrieved 11 May 2007
  4. ^ Rakugo related interview, Baruch College. Retrieved 11 May 2007
  5. ^ a b Japan Arts Counsil.
  6. ^ a b c Edogawa City
  7. ^ Kōjien dictionary, entries for "Tsuyu no Gorobei".
  8. ^ Rakugo Performers. Retrieved 11 May 2007
  9. ^ Tatekawa, Shinoharu (21 August 2017). Manju kowai (Scared of Manju) (mp3). Rakugo - Japanese traditional style comedy (FM radio broadcast). Japan. Tokyo FM. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. ^ Tatekawa, Shinoharu (17 October 2016). Meguro no samma (mp3). Rakugo - Japanese traditional style comedy (FM radio broadcast). Japan. Tokyo FM. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  11. ^ Tatekawa, Shinoharu (5 February 2018). Momotaro (mp3). Rakugo - Japanese traditional style comedy (FM radio broadcast). Japan. Tokyo FM. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  12. ^ Tatekawa, Shinoharu (4 February 2019). Cat's Plate (mp3). Rakugo - Japanese traditional style comedy (FM radio broadcast). Japan. Tokyo FM. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  13. ^ Tatekawa, Shinoharu (18 December 2017). Shibahama (mp3). Rakugo - Japanese traditional style comedy (FM radio broadcast). Japan. Tokyo FM. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

Further reading edit

  • Brau, Lorie. Rakugo: Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokyo. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008.
  • McArthur, Ian. Henry Black: On Stage in Meiji Japan. Clayton: Monash University Publishing, 2013.
  • Morioka, Heinz, and Miyoko Sasaki. Rakugo: The Popular Narrative Art of Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 1990.
  • Shores, M.W. The Comic Storytelling of Western Japan: Satire and Social Mobility in Kamigata Rakugo. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

External links edit

  • Rakugo video (in English) SFGTV San Francisco
  • Short newspaper essay on differences between Kamigata (Osaka) and Edo (Tokyo) rakugo
  • Learning Japanese Language and Culture through Rakugo Appreciation
  • The Conversation article about rakugo and gender

rakugo, ochi, redirects, here, other, uses, ochi, disambiguation, 落語, literally, story, with, fall, form, japanese, verbal, entertainment, traditionally, performed, yose, theatres, lone, storyteller, 落語家, rakugoka, sits, raised, platform, kōza, 高座, using, only. ochi redirects here For other uses see ochi disambiguation Rakugo 落語 literally story with a fall 1 is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment traditionally performed in yose theatres 2 The lone storyteller 落語家 rakugoka sits on a raised platform a kōza 高座 Using only a paper fan 扇子 sensu and a small cloth 手拭 tenugui as props and without standing up from the seiza sitting position the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical or sometimes sentimental story The story always involves the dialogue of two or more characters The difference between the characters is depicted only through change in pitch tone and a slight turn of the head Rakugoka at Sanma Festival Contents 1 Description 2 Lexical background 3 History 4 Types Of Ochi 5 Important contributors 5 1 Current performers 6 Titles 7 Notable rakugoka 7 1 Edo Tokyo 7 2 Kamigata Osaka 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External linksDescription editThe speaker is in the middle of the stage and his purpose is to stimulate the general hilarity with tone and limited yet specific body gestures The monologue always ends with a narrative stunt punch line known as ochi 落ち lit fall or sage 下げ lit lowering consisting of a sudden interruption of the wordplay flow Twelve kinds of ochi are codified and recognized with more complex variations having evolved through time from the more basic forms 3 Early rakugo has developed into various styles including the shibaibanashi 芝居噺 theatre discourses the ongyokubanashi 音曲噺 musical discourses the kaidanbanashi see kaidan 怪談噺 ghost discourses and ninjōbanashi 人情噺 sentimental discourses In many of these forms the ochi which is essential to the original rakugo is absent Rakugo has been described as a sitcom with one person playing all the parts by Noriko Watanabe assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Baruch College 4 Lexical background editThe precursor of rakugo was called karukuchi 軽口 literally light mouth 1 38 The oldest appearance of the kanji which refers specifically to this type of performance dates back to 1787 but at the time the characters themselves 落とし噺 were normally read as otoshibanashi dropping story In the middle of the Meiji period 1868 1912 the expression rakugo first started being used 1 45 and it came into common usage only in the Shōwa period 1926 1989 History edit nbsp Shinjuku suehirotei is a famous vaudeville theater in Tokyo which hosts rakugo events One of the predecessors of rakugo is considered to be a humorous story in setsuwa The Konjaku Monogatarishu and the Uji Shui Monogatari were setsuwa collections compiled from the Heian period 794 1185 to the Kamakura period 1185 1333 they contained many funny stories and Japanese Buddhist monks preached Buddhism by quoting them In Makura no Sōshi it is described that the monks had gained a reputation for their beautiful voices and narrative arts 5 The direct ancestor of rakugo is a humorous story among the stories narrated by otogishu in the Sengoku Period 1467 1615 Otogishu were scholars Buddhist monks and tea masters who served daimyo feudal lord and their duty was to give lectures on books to daimyo and to be a partner for chatting Anrakuan Sakuden who was an otogishu and a monk of the Jōdo shu is often said to be the originator of rakugo and his 8 volumes of Seisui Sho contain 1000 stories including the original stories of rakugo 5 6 Around 1670 in the Edo period 1603 1867 three storytellers appeared who were regarded as the first rakugoka Tsuyuno Gorobe in Kyoto Yonezawa Hikohachi in Osaka and Shikano Buzaemon in Edo built simple huts around the same age and began telling funny stories to the general public for a price Rakugo in this period was called Tsujibanashi but once it lost popularity rakugo declined for about 100 years 6 In 1786 Utei Enba presided over a rakugo show at a ryōtei traditional Japanese restaurant in Mukōjima He is regarded as the father of the restoration of rakugo His performances led to the establishment of the first theater dedicated to rakugo yose by Sanshōtei Karaku and Sanyutei Enshō and the revival of rakugo 6 During the Edo period thanks to the emergence of the merchant class of the chōnin the rakugo spread to the lower classes Many groups of performers were formed and collections of texts were finally printed During the 17th century the actors were known as hanashika found written as 噺家 咄家 or 話家 storyteller corresponding to the modern term rakugoka 落語家 person of the falling word Before the advent of modern rakugo there were the kobanashi 小噺 short comical vignettes ending with an ochi popular between the 17th and the 19th centuries These were enacted in small public venues or in the streets and printed and sold as pamphlets The origin of kobanashi is to be found in the Kinō wa kyō no monogatari Yesterday Stories Told Today c 1620 the work of an unknown author collecting approximately 230 stories describing the common class Types Of Ochi edit Niwaka Ochi An Ochi using a pun it is also called Jiguchi Ochi Hyoshi Ochi An Ochi that uses repeated punchlines Sakasa Ochi An Ochi with a twist punchline one where roles are reversed Kangae Ochi A punchline that is hard to understand but people will laugh after pondering for a while Mawari Ochi A punchline that ends the story by returning to the beginning Mitate Ochi An Ochi that uses unexpected punchlines Manuke Ochi An Ochi that ends the story with a dumb or ridiculous joke Totan Ochi An Ochi using a signature phrase Buttsuke Ochi An ending with a punch line based on a misunderstanding Shigusa Ochi A punchline that uses a physical gesture Important contributors edit nbsp Asakusa Engei Hall is another famous vaudeville theater in Tokyo which hosts rakugo events Many artists contributed to the development of rakugo Some were simply performers but many also composed original works Among the more famous rakugoka of the Tokugawa period were performers like Anrakuan Sakuden 1554 1642 the author of the Seisuishō Laughter to Chase Away Sleep 1628 a collection of more than 1 000 stories In Edo today s Tokyo there also lived Shikano Buzaemon ja 1649 1699 who wrote the Shikano Buzaemon kudenbanashi Oral Instruction Discourses of Shikano Buzaemon and the Shika no makifude The Deer s Brush 1686 a work containing 39 stories eleven of which are about the kabuki milieu Tatekawa Enba I ja 1743 1822 was author of the Rakugo rokugi The Six Meanings of Rakugo Kyoto was the home of Tsuyu no Gorobei I ja 1643 1703 who is considered the father of the rakugo tradition of the Kamigata area Kamigata rakugo 上方落語 7 His works are included in the Karukuchi tsuyu ga hanashi Jocular Tsuyu s Stories date of composition unknown containing many word games episodes from the lives of famous literary authors and plays on the different dialects from the Tokyo Osaka and Kyoto areas Of a similar structure is the Karukuchi gozen otoko One liners An Important Storyteller date of publication unknown in which are collected the stories of Yonezawa Hikohachi I ja who lived in Ōsaka towards the end of the 17th century An example from Yonezawa Hikohachi s collection A man faints in a bathing tub In the great confusion following a doctor arrives who takes his pulse and calmly gives the instructions Pull the plug and let the water out Once the water has flowed completely out of the tub he says Fine Now put a lid on it and carry the guy to the cemetery For the poor man is already dead The joke becomes clearer when one notes that a Japanese traditional bathing tub is shaped like a coffin Current performers edit Current rakugo artists include Tachibanaya Enzō Katsura Bunshi VI Tachibanaya Takezō II Tatekawa Shinosuke and Hayashiya Shōzō 9th Furthermore many people regarded as more mainstream comedians originally trained as rakugoka apprentices even adopting stage names given to them by their masters Some examples include Akashiya Sanma Shōfukutei Tsurube II and Shōfukutei Shōhei 8 Another famous rakugo performer Shijaku Katsura II was known outside Japan for his performances of rakugo in English Titles editThe Peony Lantern Botan Dōrō ja 牡丹灯籠 Botandōrō a kaidanbanashi or ghost story Jugemu ja 寿限無 Jugemu the life of a boy with a ridiculously long name Manjuu kowai ja 饅頭こわい Manjuu kowai Manju are scary a group of boys try to scare off a boaster 9 Meguro no Sanma ja 目黒のさんま Meguro no sanma Pacific saury of Meguro a naive lord enjoys commoners foods 10 Momotarō 桃太郎 Momotarō a meta gag in which a father is mocked by his son because of his bad storytelling of the Japanese folktale Momotarō 11 Mt Head ja 頭山 Atamayama a tree begins growing out of a man s head Neko no sara ja 猫の皿 Neko no sara The cat s plate a man tries to outwit the owner of a piece of antique porcelain 12 Shibahama ja 芝浜 Shibahama a good for nothing husband finds a huge sum of money 13 Teresuko ja てれすこ Teresuko cash reward to whom that could identify a strange fishNotable rakugoka editEdo Tokyo edit Hayashiya Kikuō formerly Hayashiya Kikuzō I Hayashiya Konpei Hayashiya Sanpei I Hayashiya Shōzō IX Hayashiya Taihei Kairakutei Black I Henry Black Katsura Utamaru Katsura Yonesuke Kokontei Shinchō Kokontei Shinshō Reireisya Bafu Reireisya Suzumaru Yamada Takao Ryutei Chiraku San yutei Enchō San yutei Enraku V San yutei Enraku VI formerly San yutei Rakutarō San yutei Kōraku San yutei Koyuza Sanshōtei Yumenosuke Shunputei Koasa Shunputei Ryushō Shunputei Shōta Tachibanaya Enzō Tachibanaya Takezō Tatekawa Danshi Tatekawa Shinosuke Yanagiya Kosan Yanagiya Kosanji Kamigata Osaka edit Hayashiya Somemaru IV Katsura Beichō Katsura Bunchin Katsura Bunshi V Katsura Bunshi VI formerly Katsura Sanshi Katsura Harudanji Katsura Shijaku II Katsura Sunshine Shōfukutei Kakushow Shōfukutei Matsunosuke Shōfukutei Nikaku Shōfukutei Shōkaku Shōfukutei Tsurube Showko Showfukutei Tsukitei Happō Tsukitei Hōsei formerly Yamasaki Hōsei Tsukitei KachōSee also editAkane banashi Descending Stories Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Fallen Words Kyōgen Manzai Stand up comedyReferences edit a b c Tanaka Sakurako 1993 Talking through the text Rakugo and the oral literal interface Master thesis University of British Columbia pp 30 45 doi 10 14288 1 0076952 Archived from the original on 3 May 2023 Sweeney Amin 1979 Rakugo Professional Japanese Storytelling pdf Asian Folklore Studies in Japanese Nanzan University 38 1 29 Archived PDF from the original on 6 August 2019 Retrieved 3 May 2023 Bibliography volume 38 1 article Rakugo universal laughter Tim Ryan Retrieved 11 May 2007 Rakugo related interview Baruch College Retrieved 11 May 2007 a b 落語の歴史 Japan Arts Counsil a b c 落語入門 Edogawa City Kōjien dictionary entries for Tsuyu no Gorobei Rakugo Performers Retrieved 11 May 2007 Tatekawa Shinoharu 21 August 2017 Manju kowai Scared of Manju mp3 Rakugo Japanese traditional style comedy FM radio broadcast Japan Tokyo FM Retrieved 11 November 2019 Tatekawa Shinoharu 17 October 2016 Meguro no samma mp3 Rakugo Japanese traditional style comedy FM radio broadcast Japan Tokyo FM Retrieved 11 November 2019 Tatekawa Shinoharu 5 February 2018 Momotaro mp3 Rakugo Japanese traditional style comedy FM radio broadcast Japan Tokyo FM Retrieved 11 November 2019 Tatekawa Shinoharu 4 February 2019 Cat s Plate mp3 Rakugo Japanese traditional style comedy FM radio broadcast Japan Tokyo FM Retrieved 11 November 2019 Tatekawa Shinoharu 18 December 2017 Shibahama mp3 Rakugo Japanese traditional style comedy FM radio broadcast Japan Tokyo FM Retrieved 11 November 2019 Further reading editBrau Lorie Rakugo Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokyo Lanham MD Lexington Books 2008 McArthur Ian Henry Black On Stage in Meiji Japan Clayton Monash University Publishing 2013 Morioka Heinz and Miyoko Sasaki Rakugo The Popular Narrative Art of Japan Cambridge MA Harvard University Asia Center 1990 Shores M W The Comic Storytelling of Western Japan Satire and Social Mobility in Kamigata Rakugo Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2021 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rakugo Rakugo video in English SFGTV San Francisco Short newspaper essay on differences between Kamigata Osaka and Edo Tokyo rakugo Learning Japanese Language and Culture through Rakugo Appreciation The Conversation article about rakugo and gender Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rakugo amp oldid 1200696630, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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