They are happy to see he still has the same old sweets and they’re eager to hear the stories they remember so fondly from their childhood. He was forced to retire with the advent of television and its moving pictures, but the former storyteller discovers that the grown-ups who used to come to see him perform and listen to his stories still have fond memories of his visits. Times have changed and the small shops and parks he once knew have now been swamped by tower blocks and traffic. The story is based around the memories of an old man who used to work as a kamishibai storyteller, cycling from town to town with his box theatre strapped to the back of his bicycle. We first got interested in kamishibai through Allen Say‘s excellent book, Kamishibai Man (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005). Stories usually ran to thirty episodes and there were an average of 10-12 hand painted story cards per episode. Cliff hanger endings made the children hungry for more and the kamishibai performer made money from selling the children sweets. He announced his arrival by hitting wooden clappers together and the children would come running to hear the latest instalment of a tale told in serial fashion. The Kamishibai performer would strap a wooden stage to the back of his bicycle and would cycle from town to town. Many of the performers had worked as silent film narrators (benshi) but with the arrival of ‘talkies’ they were forced to find alternative employment.

During this period it was one of the most popular forms of mass entertainment in the cities of Japan. It’s a form of street performance that was popular in Japan from the 1930s through to the 1950s.

We did the opening presentation and this year we’re championing the cause of Kamishibai which means ‘paper theatre’ in Japanese. On Saturday, March 26th, The Henry Brothers had the pleasure of being invited to Bursa Nilufer Egitim Kurumlari to present at their 7th ELT conference, ‘On the Threshold of Excellence.’ to a packed auditorium of around 400 enthusiastic teachers and as always a superbly organized event.

Kamishibai man book