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Yanagiya Kosan V was born in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan on January 2, 1915. Public records list Yanagiya Kosan V as a rakugoka and seiyū. Death is recorded on May 16, 2002, at the age of 87. Recorded honors include Medal with Purple Ribbon.
My Take
Yanagiya Kosan V (1915–2002) is one of those names that carries enormous weight in Japanese rakugo and almost none in a database field. Our record for him holds a birthplace in Nagano, the dates of his life, a note that he also worked as a voice actor, and the Medal with Purple Ribbon. That is it, and I think the thinness is worth sitting with rather than papering over. Rakugo is a solo storytelling art performed on a cushion with a fan and a hand towel, where the comedy lives in timing, in a shift of the eyes, in how long a master lets a silence run before the punchline lands. None of that survives being written down. You can transcribe every word of a Kosan performance and end up with nothing funny at all. So a career built entirely on things that do not transcribe leaves behind a small paper trail and a large memory. If you never heard him, no summary I can write will fix that.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Yanagiya Kosan V
- Name (Japanese)
- 柳家小さん (5代目)
- Reading
- やなぎや こさん
- Born
- January 2, 1915 – May 16, 2002
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Rabbit
- Origin
- Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
- Occupation
- rakugoka / seiyū
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- Medal with Purple Ribbon
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-08-07
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Yanagiya Kosan V born?
Born January 2, 1915.
When did Yanagiya Kosan V die?
Died May 16, 2002, aged 87.
Where was Yanagiya Kosan V from?
Yanagiya Kosan V was from Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
What did Yanagiya Kosan V do?
Yanagiya Kosan V worked as rakugoka, seiyū.