Sukeroku

Sukeroku (助六 Sukeroku) is Konatsu's deceased father.

Appearance
Sukeroku had slicked-back hair and was normally depicted wearing a yukata that was slightly open down the front, even when he was young. His choice of shoes are geta (wooden sandals), otherwise his feet are normally covered in white socks. He was older than Kikuhiko.

After the war and taking up the name Sukeroku, he also wore a dark jacket with his yukata along with a white scarf. The scarf had black spots on it and served as his rakugo towel. It was at this point he began to smoke cigarettes, and was never seen without one. He also frequently had stubble on his chin.

Personality
He was a loving father to Konatsu, as she looks up to him.

He was otherwise a womaniser who would not focus on things that did not interest him. He never hesitated and always wanted attention.

Hatsutaro and Kikuhiko
Hatsutaro (Sukeroku) and Kikuhiko (8th Yakumo) were rakugo students under the same master, the 7th Yakumo. Hatsutaro's style of rakugo was rough but he had passion for it, while Kikuhiko was reluctant. Shin-san was his name before rakugo training, and he learnt rakugo from "the old man at the [rakugo] theatre", who had recently died by the time Shin-san approached 7th Yakumo. The old man would let him in for free.

Hatsutaro went to fight the war with Yakumo, leaving Kikuhiko and Yakumo's wife Tomi behind. They came back safe.

Sukeroku would later leech off of Kikuhiko since he would spend his money easily. He would smoke cigarettes and drink. He argued with the masters as his fame rose. He would normally tell rakugo stories that weren't sentimental.

However, Yakumo and the Rakugo Association couldn't keep up with Sukeroku's ideals and talent with the art. When he tried to explain that in an era where entertainment was booming, the old version of Rakugo wouldn't be able to keep up, this angered Yakumo and he mocked Sukeroku and eventually told him the title of Yakumo would go to Kiku since Sukeroku was 'unworthy' in his eyes. This angered Sukeroku and instinctively raised his hand towards his master. Sukeroku was kicked out and expelled from Rakugo.

He met with Miyokichi that night and stayed with her for the rest of the days, making love and eventually creating a baby inside her.

However, still drowning in his misery and sadness he lost the way of Rakugo and even created tension in his friendship with Kiku.

Quotes

 * Wouldn't that be funny? For the dead Sukeroku to become a Yakumo... - ep 8, to Kikuhiko

Trivia

 * As Hatsutaro, he mentioned his name had "opening act" written all over it. This is because the "hatsu" (初) part means "beginning" and "Taro" (太郎) is a typical boy's name.
 * He owned a montsuki kimono at one point (Yakumo 7th gave it to him) but he pawned it for drinking money. Kikuhiko then bought him another one.
 * He did not wear a suit because it was too uncomfortable in the crotch area.
 * He was the second generation Sukeroku, the first generation being "the old man at the theatre" which was who he received the trademark Sukeroku fan (which he considered to be his lucky charm) from. 1st generation Sukeroku had apprenticed under Yakumo the 6th.
 * He was once called "grubby one" by one of the masters.
 * He once played the taiko drum for Kikuhiko's rakugo performance.