Storyteller. Visual Artist. Teacher. Writer

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100 Years of Kamishibai

One of my New Year’s resolutions in 2024 is to begin this kamishibai blog to share with kamishibai enthusiasts around the world the many interesting Japanese materials about kamishibai that I have collected over the past 20 years. Most of these materials are not available outside Japan, and the ones that are often can only be accessed through a Japanese or East Asian library collection. By translating selections and summarizing articles and chapters, I hope to share topics and ideas of interest with all those who want to deepen their knowledge about the history, development, applications, and current state of this dynamic storytelling format.

On my most recent trip to Japan to present at the All-Japan Kamishibai Festival in Kawagoe last August, I picked up a copy of a special issue of the journal, Kodomo no bunka (Children’s Culture), focused on Kamishibai 100 nen—Aratana chōsen (Kamishibai’s 100 Years—New Challenges) July 8, 2023.

As many of you may know, kamishibai in the form we commonly use today was invented around 1930 so six years from now (2030) will be its centennial year. The journal, which is published by the Children’s Cultural Research Center in Tokyo, brings together many voices in the Japanese kamishibai community today to celebrate kamishibai’s 100 th birthday and to discuss the challenges that lie ahead. I thought this collection of essays, interviews and conversations would be an appropriate place to begin a series of blog posts.

Kamishibai

Kamishibai’s 100 Years: Where We Go From Here

As promised, this blogpost is a continuation of the last, where I provided a synopsis of a discussion among four influential voices in the world of kamishibai in Japan, moderated by the head of the Children’s Cultural Research Center in Tokyo, Suzuki Takako. In the beginning of their conversation, they looked back at the history of kamishibai and the various challenges it has faced, and in the second half, their discussion shifts to new directions in kamishibai’s future.  I should preface this synopsis of their discussion by pointing out that the people involved are, for the most part, the older guard of the kamishibai world today. Sakai Kyōko, Nagano Hideko, and Miyazaki Fumie all range in age from 70 to 80, and the youngest member of the group, Tsukahara is probably 40-50 years old. This is important to understand because the tensions that arise in this conversation amongst the participants come out of their greater or lesser ability to imagine definitions of kamishibai changing or expanding going forward. Perhaps the most fearful for kamishibai’s future is, in fact, the youngest member, Tsukahara, who wonders if kamishibai will even be around by 2030, its centennial year. He argues that unless there is […]
by Tara Mcgowan
on Mar 18
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Kamishibai

Kamishibai’s 100 Years, Until Now and Where We Go From Here: A Conversation

In my third blog post, I will share some insights from the third article in the special issue of the journal, Children’s Culture (Kodomo no bunka), titled Kamishibai’s 100 Years—New Challenges (Kamishibai 100 nen—Aratana chōsen, published by the Research Center for Children’s Culture, July 8, 2023).  Again, it is more of a discussion than an article, this time amongst four influential people in the world of kamishibai in Japan today, moderated by the Director of the Research Center for Children’s Culture in Tokyo, Suzuki Takako. The four discussants: Nagano Hideko, renowned picture-book and kamishibai author and president of the Kamishibai Bunka Suishin Kyōkai (Association for Promoting Kamishibai Culture) Miyazaki Fumie, kamishibai author and researcher and vice-president of the Kamishibai Bunka Suishin Kyōkai (Association for Promoting Kamishibai Culture) Sakai Kyōko, president of Dōshinsha publishing company and representative of Kamishibai Bunka no Kai (IKAJA) Tsukahara Shigeyuki, Professor of Children’s Education at Seisen Women’s College. He is also a professional clown and kamishibai performer and theorist. This discussion may surprise kamishibai enthusiasts outside Japan because of the relative lack of information available about how kamishibai is viewed in Japan today. Histories of kamishibai in English often begin with the street-performance art in the 1930s […]
by Tara Mcgowan
on Mar 10
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Kamishibai

Early Kamishibai Innovators: Takahashi Gozan (1888-1965)

In my second blog post, I will share some insights from the second article in the special issue of the journal Children’s Culture (Kodomo no bunka), titled “Kamishibai’s 100 Years—New Challenges” (published by the Research Center for Children’s Culture, July 8, 2023). It is actually not so much an article as a transcript of a conversation between poet Arthur Binard and Yoko Takahashi, the granddaughter-in-law of Takahashi Gozan. The Takahashi Gozan Prize was established in 1961 and has been awarded annually ever since by the Research Center on Children’s Culture in Tokyo. Arthur Binard was given the 58th Gozan Prize in 2019 for his kamishibai “A Tiny Voice” (Chicchai koe). Selecting a series of details from the famous Hiroshima panels by husband and wife team Toshi and Iri Maruki, Binard composed a poetic text to create a kamishibai story about the horrors of the atomic bombing from the point of view of the animals that were affected. The conversation between Binard and Takahashi Yoko took place at the Tokyo Children’s Cultural Research Center hall during a retrospective exhibition of Gozan’s work. Imai Yone, Matsunaga Kenya, and Takahashi Gozan are usually mentioned together as the originators of “educational kamishibai” in Japan, but Takahashi Gozan brought a different set of […]
by Tara Mcgowan
on Mar 3
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About me 

Scholarship and Creativity combined together

I’ve been fascinated by all forms of picture-storytelling, East and West, since childhood. As a visual artist, who has lived and studied in Japan for many years, I bring to my performances and residences an intimate knowledge of the language and culture. My programs bring Japan to life through story, song, and image, and the artwork and artifacts I create help students visualize the objects and landscape of everyday life.