KamIshibai, Japan's Street Stories
A Pre-TV Street Art is Surviving and Thriving in the Modern World
Japanese storytellers have used pictures since the 9th century, evolving a popular culture of storytelling that influenced the development of anime and manga.
Kamishibai, or paper theater, was a beloved feature of Japanese life in the early 20th century. It evolved from early times, when 9th century Buddhist monks used picture scrolls, or emaki, to teach moral lessons through stories. Later, secular stories were told by etoki, or picture storytellers, using art to enhance their narrative. Shadow puppet plays toured the land on traveling stages. These ancient arts were combined into kamishibai.
Travelling Salesmen, Live Commercials
Kamishibai storytellers were traveling salesmen first and artists second. They went from village to village on bicycles selling snacks and candy. At each stop, the salesman would bang two wooden clappers, or hyoshigi, together to attract an audience, and present a drama, comedy or morality play through picture boards inserted into the small wooden stage on the back of his bicycle.
Children who bought snacks got the best seats in front of the stage. When enough snacks were sold, the storyteller would unfold a tale packed with drama and suspense, removing the picture boards to show the next scene. Serials with a cliffhanger ending maximized sales through repeat visits.
Kamishibai in the Depression and Wartime
The depression of the 1920s put many out of work, and the traditional craft was one way to earn a little money. It's estimated there were over 25,000 kamishibai storytellers in Japan between the 1920s and 1950s, with 3,000 in Tokyo alone. The most popular stories were folktales and heroes fighting for justice, like legendary kamishibai character Golden Bat (Ogon Bat.)
Kamishibai continued in wartime. It was easily taken into devastated neighbourhoods, even bomb shelters. After the war, returning soldiers worked as kamishibai artists or performers. Manga artists like Shigeru Mizuki began by painting kamishibai boards, and traditional kamishibai themes carried over into comics and animation like his Graveyard Kitaro (Hakaba no Kitaro.)
When television was introduced in 1959, some performers tried to update their art, but audiences dwindled. Kamishibai was seen as backward-looking, part of Japan's prewar history. Television, often called "electric kamishibai", was the modern, progressive entertainment choice. Broadcasts of the Crown Prince (now Emperor) Akihito's wedding and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics almost killed kamishibai.
21st Century Kamishibai
In the 1980s, a more affluent Japan once again turned to its traditional street culture, and kamishibai began to revive in schools, libraries and art centers. In the 1990s, as world interest in anime and manga grew, Americans were introduced to kamishibai by Accursed Toys, who created a kamishibai program for Microsoft Windows. Authors like Allen Say and companies like Kamishibai for Kidsuse kamishibai as a metaphor to help young children access concepts like change, communication and community.
Kamishibai has become popular across Asia and is rapidly becoming a world art form, like anime and manga. Yuushi Yasuno, kamishibai artist at Kyoto International Manga Museum, is scheduled to perform the first public kamishibai plays in Britain at London's Barbican Centre and Manchester's Urbis in 2008.
In Japan kamishibai storytellers are active in elementary schools, museums and arts centres, and at festivals where they continue the traditions inherited from their forebears. Major companies like Toyota use kamishibai in promotional and public service work, and to present audits and staff briefings.
Kamishibai is also being televised, colonizing the medium that almost killed it. This ancient folk art has survived to become a vibrant part of contemporary world culture.
