Magicians have been entertaining people for centuries with skills that transcend barriers of language and culture. Japa­nese magician Yasu Ishida is a perfect example of this: He can take a traditional Japa­nese bamboo mat and reshape it into a large fish. He can also perform timeless sleight-of-hand tricks, Western style, with brightly colored thimbles.

Since coming to Hawaii in 2011, Ishida has expanded his repertoire into rakugo, a traditional form of Japa­nese storytelling. Hawaii has the opportunity to see a bit of his work as both magician and rakugo playwright in Hono­lulu Theatre for Youth’s production of "Rock’n the Holidays with Rakugo!"

"Rakugo is traditional Japa­nese storytelling that started about the same time as kabuki — about 300 years ago," Ishida said. "It developed as entertainment for people who could not afford to go to kabuki, with street performers retelling kabuki stories. There are lots of parodies of kabuki and Japa­nese puppet plays."

A rakugo storyteller performs while seated on a cushion in the middle of a stage, voicing all the characters and using facial expressions, pantomime and slight changes of position to help the audience readily distinguish between them. A sensu (fan) and tenu­gui (a small cloth) are the only props used in traditional rakugo.

"It’s very minimalistic," Ishida said.

But because of his training as a professional magician, there’ll also be some sleight-of-hand illusions in the HTY show, which opens Friday and runs through Dec. 20.

Ishida, 31, came to HTY by a circuitous route. Born and raised in Japan, he found his life’s calling at age 19 when he saw "Patch Adams," a Robin Williams film about an unconventional doctor who used humor to raise his patients’ spirits.

Determined to become a professional hospital clown and magician, Ishida left Japan for Los Angeles and enrolled at the Chavez School of Magic. The school was founded in 1941 by Ben Chavez, a veteran magician who considered prestidigitation — in simple terms, a magician’s ability to skillfully manipulate everyday items rather than relying on mechanical devices and specially designed props — the highest form of the art. Ishida became proficient in the use of traditional magicians’ items such as playing cards, coins, thimbles, cigarettes and billiard balls.

With his studies completed, Ishida worked as a magician in Disney’s Summer Kids program, performed with the Zany Umbrella Circus in Pittsburgh and was a guest artist at Japa­nese-American cultural festivals and also at the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. He eventually returned to Japan to comply with the terms of his visa.

While back in Japan, Ishida got a close-up look at rakugo.

Rakugo companies include a variety act that provides a change of pace before the final story is told. Ishida was the variety act for a rakugo company while working as a magician in Japan, but he didn’t get into rakugo as a writer until he came to Hawaii to study theater at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The final assignment for a Japa­nese-theater class was to either write a 30-page paper or create a 30-minute performance. Ishida chose performing over writing. He enlisted two friends as performance partners and created an original rakugo show. Ishida’s class assignment was so well received that it evolved into a Japa­nese storytelling group, Bento Rakugo, whose work was presented by UH Outreach College and toured throughout the state.

Ishidaearned his Master of Fine Arts degree from UH earlier this year.

It was during his final year in college that Ishida met HTY Artistic Director Eric Johnson. Johnson was "moonlighting" at the time, teaching a UH class on theater for young audiences in addition to his full-time responsibilities overseeing the development of HTY’s 2013-2014 theater season. When Johnson discovered that Ishida was a professional magician, he asked him to design some sleight-of-hand magic for an HTY show.

Things went so well that Ishida was commissioned to write and direct a full-length show.

"Rock’n the Holidays with Rakugo!" is that show. HTY company actors Alvin Chan, Maile Holck and Junior Tesoro are the storytellers.

Chan tells the story of a man who is in a hurry to get to Ala Moana Center and wants to hire the fastest rickshaw available. Holck performs an adaption of O. Henry’s "The Gift of the Magi" short story about a woman who sells her most prized possession to buy the perfect gift for her husband.

Tesoro performs the story of a boy who is told that snow will fall on Oahu if he folds 1,000 origami cranes.

"A Japanese-Hawaiian boy 5 years old named Ken dreams to see snow in Oahu, but he cannot see it because it’s too hot here," Ishida explained. "His Japa­nese grandma tells him about 1,000 paper cranes — if you make 1,000 paper origami, your wish will come true. So the next day he starts making origami snowflakes instead of cranes, and he is on the journey of making the wish come true."

Ishida is adding another visual component with the use of kami­shi­bai ("paper theater") picture cards that show key moments in the narrative. As the story is told, the front card is removed to show the picture beneath it.

Musical accompaniment will be provided with Japa­nese instruments.

"In rakugo traditionally we have three musical instruments," Ishida said. "Shamisen, which is a three-stringed instrument, a bamboo flute and also taiko. Shamisen is played for the entrance and exit, but the shamisen player also adds sound effects during the story so it adds the rhythm to the story."

For more information on Ishida, visit www.yasu­theatre.com.