Shinzaemon Sorori

was the stage name of , a semi-legendary Japanese comedian, jester, and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He is regarded as the progenitor of rakugo.

Biography Sorori was originally a scabbard-maker of Sakai, a major commercial center. He studied the art of chanoyu under Takeno Jō'ō, and was also versed in kyōka.

Sorori is best known through the many anecdotes depicting his interactions with Hideyoshi. In one, a variation of the ancient wheat and chessboard problem is attributed to him. In another, after Sorori had farted in his presence, Hideyoshi beat him over the head and buttocks with a shaku. Sorori then composed a poem: .

For many years, the relative scarcity of contemporary manuscripts mentioning Sorori gave rise to a theory that he was actually the same person as Anrakuan Sakuden, another comedian of the period. However, according to , a diary from 1587 belonging to the kuge mentions that a person named Sorori gave amusing lectures and did a comical impression of Chinese person.