Japanese rakugo comic storyteller Katsura Takemaru was reminded of his boyhood in Osaka in the 1960s when he visited Thailand for the first time in 2007.
Katsura, 57, was so intrigued by Thailand that he began learning the Thai language to become better acquainted with the Southeast Asian nation. He soon became a repeat visitor, traveling there three or four times a year, and finally performed there last year.
It was during his latter days at university that Katsura embarked on a rakugo career, eventually joining the ranks of shin-uchi, or rakugo masters, in 1993.