Osaka and Tokyo rakugo

This month, I would like to explore the differences between Osaka and Tokyo rakugo.
The two traditions of Japanese comic storytelling share many of the same stories, and the appearance and format of the performance is almost exactly the same.
The most obvious difference is the dialect. Traditional stories in Osaka use the Osaka dialect, or Osaka-ben, whereas in Tokyo, they use the Edo dialect or Edo-ben.
But the differences do not stop there. Osaka storytellers will often use a small table (ken-dai) with a standing board in front of it (hiza-kakushi). Two small wooden blocks called ko-byoshi are used to bang on the table to signify the beginning of a story or scene changes within the story. Osaka rakugo also often features shamisen and taiko drum music at specified points in many of the stories. These special features help to give Osaka rakugo its colorful and exciting flavor.
There is another, more subtle difference in the two traditions that I find particularly fascinating. In the Tokyo tradition, you will very rarely see the titles of the stories that the storytellers are going to tell in the advertising posters or pamphlets. This is because the storyteller traditionally doesn't decide which story he or she is going to tell until he is already onstage and addressing the audience.
In Osaka, however, it is very common to advertise the stories in advance. The storytellers have to decide often weeks before which stories they are going to do on a given night.
Why this strange difference?
The answer lies in the history of the two cities themselves. Edo was traditionally a samurai city. The favorite stories of the common people were the stories that made fun of the samurai, but a storyteller couldn't make fun of samurai if there were samurai in the audience. So the Edo storyteller used to come out and test the waters, so to speak, feeling out the audience before deciding which story to tell. This is obviously not necessary today, but this way of telling stories has remained as part of the Edo ethos of iki, or Edo "sophistication" (for lack of a better English equivalent.)
Osaka, on the other hand, was historically a merchant city. Rakugo in Osaka began outside, where the storyteller had to attract his audience with a loud and colorful preamble. This might include telling people what a funny and entertaining story he was about to tell. This tradition is manifested today in the posters and pamphlets advertising an Osaka rakugo performance. If you add the name of the story, you may attract a few more customers who happen to want to hear that story.
I am training in the Osaka tradition of rakugo, but I love both traditions and the fact that these historical differences remain today is part of what makes the world of Japanese rakugo so fascinating. Someday, if you are lucky enough to see a Tokyo storyteller performing on the same bill as an Osaka storyteller, see if you can sense the difference yourself!

要約：
大阪の落語と東京の落語は同じ落語でも、方言に違いによるもの等の異なる特徴がある。特に興味深いのは、江戸落語では事情に演目を明かさないことで、これは大阪が商人の町であり、江戸が武士の町だったことに由来するのだそうだ。

単語：
explore
～を探る
Japanese comic storytelling
落語のこと
appearance and format
見た目や形式
obvious
はっきりした
dialect
方言
whereas
その一方
do not stop there
それだけではない
bang on ～
～を叩く
signify
～を示す
features
～を呼び物にする
flavor
趣
subtle
小さな
fascinating
興味をそそる
onstage
舞台上に
（is）addressing
～に向かって話している
in advance
前もって
on a given night
当日の夜に
lies in ～
～にある
common people
庶民
made fun of ～
～を笑いものにした
come out and test the waters
出てきて様子をうかがう
so to speak
言ってみれば
feeling out ～
～を見極めて
obviously
もちろん
has remained
受け継がれた
ethos
精神
sophistication
洗練
better English equivalent
英語でそれをよりよく表す言葉
on the other hand
これに対して
historically
歴史的に
merchant city
商人の町
preamble
予告
is manifested
見て取れる
add
～を載せる
happen to ～
たまたま～する
are lucky enough to ～
運よく～する
bill
演目
sense
～を感じとる