Rakugo was created by TSUYU no Gorobe of Kyoto in the Edo era as a light kodan storytelling and tsuji-banashi (also called tsuji-gei, storytelling at crossroads).
落語は、江戸時代、軽めの講談、辻咄（辻芸）として京都の露の五郎兵衛らによって創作された。