kamishibai

[yuko itatsu]

There is a historical examination on Kamishibai (with a chapter on its 
censorship by SCAP-GHQ), written by a professor at Hitotsubashi University.

山本　武利　著、　「紙芝居：街角のメディア」　歴史文化ライブラリー１０３　吉川弘文館　2000年。
Just in case the Japanese doesn't come through:
Yamamoto Taketoshi, _Kamishibai: Machikado no media_, (Rekishi Bunka Library 
Series103) Yoshikawa Kobunkan 2000. ISBN: 4-642-05503-7

According to Yamamoto's bibliography, there are about a dozen Japanese books 
on Kamishibai.
For what it's worth,
Yuko Itatsu
Ph.D. Candidate, History Dept.
University of Southern California
itatsu at usc.edu
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerard Kraus" <ggk05 at aber.ac.uk>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 1:49 AM
Subject: Re: kamishibai


> Considering Richard's question about kamishibai being exclusive to Japan I
> can nt add a definitive answer. There are, however, young children's
> textbooks in continental Europe that use Panels to tell stories. These
> panels are blown up to bigger sizes and used for classwork. I believe
> those are included in the Teacher Pack of those books. It is up to the
> teacher, or pupils, to point out what is happening in the pictures and
> relate them to the bigger story.
> It would be interesting to know whether there is any connection or whether
> it is just a separate development.
>
>
>
>
>> It seems that kamishibai is not just for kids, that is if one has
>> watched "Enta no kamisama" (God of Entertainment") on Saturday nights
>> recently (OK, now you know what I do Saturday nights. Well, some
>> Saturday nights). It's a stand-up comedy show that features the usual
>> manzai teams, etc. One of the most interesting, and popular acts is a
>> "schoolgirl" (actually a crossdressing guy in his mid-twenties) who
>> calls himself "Yakkun." He shows up every week with a hand-drawn set
>> of kamishibai cards that often parody some recent movie or TV drama,
>> and asks members of the audience to "fill in the blanks" of the story
>> by guessing what the characters might be saying. Of course, there is
>> huge potential for double entendre, but most of the dialogue he
>> finally reveals written on the cards (by pulling off post-its cut to
>> size, an ever-popular tension-building technique on Japanese TV) is
>> squeaky clean. He then berates the hapless audience member (who are
>> all young women and girls, it seems) for having her mind in the
>> gutter.
>>
>> I think it's interesting that the kamishibai would make a
>> (re)appearance in such a popular and adult-oriented forum. But not
>> that odd, considering that most Japanese schoolchildren (as Greg
>> points out) are familiar with this method of performance from early
>> childhood. Yakkun is all the more funny, then, for subverting the
>> innocent and childish aura attached to it.
>>
>> Yes, he's on Youtube of course: just type in "Yakkun" and you'll get
>> a bunch of clips.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Melek
>>
>>>There seems to be some connection between kamishibai and emakimono
>>> (picture
>>>scrolls with accompanying narratives. Emakimono were apparently used
>>>initially in the dissemination of Buddhism but came to carry secular
>>>entertainment purposes as well by the mid Heian period.) Kamishibai use
>>>hasn't completely died out.  One can see kamishibai performances on
>>> Japanese
>>>children's TV programs.  Story card sets with picture on one side and
>>> script
>>>on the other are available in Japanese public libraries. My kids check
>>> them
>>>out and bring them home like they would books. They are still used in
>>>nurseries, kindergartens, and primary schools. My primary school son and
>>> his
>>>classmates sometimes make them when their turn comes to perform at a
>>> school
>>>assembly or just for a lark to entertain kids in lower grades.
>>>
>>>Greg Johnson
>>>
>>>>  Does anyone know more about this practice in Japan?
>>>>  Or similar examples of a kamishibaiya-like business elsewhere
>>>>  in the world?
>>>>  Is this a unique piece of Japanese visual culture?
>>>>
>>>>  Many thanks for any leads,
>>>>  Dick Chalfen
>>>>  Emeritus, Anthro. Temple U.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Comparative Literature
>> Hamilton College
>> Clinton, NY
>>
>> **Visiting Researcher at The University of Tokyo, 2006-2007**
>>
>
>
> -- 
> G?rard Kraus (ggk05 at aber.ac.uk)
> Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
> University of Wales, Aberystwyth
> http://www.aber.ac.uk/tfts
>