Osaka Prefectural Museum of Kamigata Comedy and Performing Arts (Wahha Kamigata), Osaka

Osaka Prefectural Museum of Kamigata Comedy and Performing Arts (Wahha Kamigata) is dedicated to the performing and preservation of the traditional performing arts that originated in the city. The distinctive vaudevillian comedy shows that were born in Osaka are Raguko, Manzai, Rokyuko and Kodan.

The Osaka Prefectural Museum of Kamigata Comedy and Performing Arts (Wahha Kamigata) was opened in 1996. The aim was to preserve traditional performing arts for posterity and promote them among the youth of the city. Theaters where performances are held, an extensive library and a museum form part of the complex.

The museum covers a vast space of over 2350 square meters. The exhibition hall is on the 4th floor. It is designed to take visitors down the late Taisho and early Showa era through a realistic reproduction of a street of houses as it was in old Osaka. Tables and photographs arranged in chronological order narrate the history of the different types of performing arts. There are two performing halls. The main hall on the 5th floor stages comic storytelling shows called the Raguko that dates back to 1787. Performances of traditional comedy also take place in the mini performing hall located in the 7th floor.