The origin of manga: Storytelling Man

6 Nov 2006 Category: Features, Illustration, Japan, Manga, Recommended, Top Page 10

I was walking down the street the other day and saw a group of kids and adults laughing in the park. I was very curious to find out what was happening, so I walked up towards them and realized that there was a storytelling man! All the kids were into his story, their eyes were sparkling. The audience was caught up in all the different voices he was using, and the touching illustrations to the story. The thing that impressed me most was that the adults seemed to be enjoying it even more than the kids, probably because it was so nostalgic. So, today we bring you the very nostalgic Japanese storyteller, Kamishibai-shi.

Written by Ryoko
Tranlated by Chiemi

Some of you might not know what he does: A storytelling man is a man who shows illustrations to a story in order, while narrating the story to the audience. He reads the dialogue and narration out loud, making him more a performer rather than just a storyteller. And sometimes the kamishibai-shi performs on the street, because originally kamishibai was a part of the old-style Japanese street musicians, Chindonya.

Luckily, I managed to meet up with 78 year old storyteller Tameharu Nagata, who lives in Edogawa, Tokyo. Mr. Nagata has been doing kamishibai for 52 years, while making his living by running a small sweet shop with his wife, Yoshi. They showed me some old photos and told me about Kamishibai-shi.

Japanese storytelling Kamishibai was born at the beginning of the Showa period. Showa 20s (1940s) were the golden times for Kamishibai. Back then there were about 3,000 storytellers in Tokyo. However, in the 1950s the popularity was already declining because of the rapid increase of the saturation level of televisions and children’s after-school lessons. Nowadays we don’t have a chance to see them on the street at all.

The storyteller usually appears in the evening when the children finish school. Mr. Nagata loads about 30 kg of equipment onto his bicycle and cycles to where the children will gather. When he gets there, he beats a rhythm with his wooden clappers to announce his arrival, and walks around town while clapping to gather up more children.

Kids who come to listen to and see his story are also excited about the cheap sweets dagashi he sells. There are colorful starch syrups and Japanese biscuits in the shape of animals, but most of them are hard to find these days.

Just a few kids are enough to begin his performance. Mr. Nagata starts to read the story as well as the dialogue of all the characters, including small kids and young ladies. And the way he tells the story is very energetic!

Mr. Nagata explains: I could be the only storyteller left in Tokyo now. I used to go to a lot of places to tell stories to kids, but I don’t do it very often anymore. But I do attend some local festivals and school festivals with this Kamishibai kit sometimes.

Mr. Nagata owns over 700 stories and many of them have action themes. Some of them include very violent scenes like people killing each other, so there was a time when people were quite critical. However, he kept collecting stories for many years and now they serve not only as the things he needs for his work, but also as an archive of Japanese culture which is slowly declining. Mr. Nagata showed me some parts of his great collection:

Ougon Bat (Golden Bat)

“Ougon Bat (Golden Bat)” is one of the most famous stories for Kamishibai. This scary looking Ougon Bat is in fact a preserver of justice battling against the evil black bat.

Tetsu no Tsume (Iron Fingernails)

According to Mr. Nagata, the very famous “Gekkou Kamen” is based on this “Tetsu no Tsume”.

You might have probably noticed by now that Japanese manga has been inspired by the illustrations of these Kamishibai. Two of the great cartoonists, Sanpei Shirato, who is the author of “Kamui-den”, and Shigeru Mizuki, the author of “Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro“, used to be illustrators for Kamishibai.

Amazingly some of his collection are originals. Most of these Kamishibai are usually printed in a way to look exactly the same as the originals. But actually these provide a totally different atmosphere as their strokes inherit the soul of the illustrator.

Kyubi no Kitsune (Fox with nine tails)

Hengen Jadoumaru

Finally, Mr. Nagata said: 50 years ago we didn’t have so many things around us, and especially entertainment for kids was very rare. But children and adults were living close together and everyone was greeting everyone on the street all the time. Back then children were still running around outside.

Compared to the old standards, we are now surrounded by so many products and have much wealthier lives. However, on the other hand it’s true that we might lose something in our hearts. So what can we do to make things better? I wonder if Kamishibai could give us some hints?

Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Nagata. I hope you enjoyed the nostalgic world of Kamishibai!

36 Comments

1. Hup, hup hurray… Another great article by PingMag…

   Here in Europe, on my home region we have a much more thrilling tradicion: Blind Men Chronicles (Cantares de Cego)
   http://www.culturagalega.org/rcg/tradicion/tradicion.htm

   Well, they were blind people that sung about crimes…
   Here is an audio sample:
   http://www.culturagalega.org/real/manueldocampo.rm

   Posted by: xmanoel on November 6th, 2006 at 11:01 pm

2. That article made me smile. I wish Mr and Mrs Nagata all the best.

   Wish I could see him and his storytelling, doesnt matter if I cant understand what he’s saying as long as I can watch his pictures.

   Posted by: Joakim Hagdahl on November 6th, 2006 at 11:38 pm

3. Gekko Kamen! Sugoi desu ne!

   Posted by: nyuudo on November 7th, 2006 at 12:41 am

4. Another great article, love this webzine, keep up the good work.

   Posted by: Jacob Cousino on November 7th, 2006 at 3:59 am

5. Great post and photos. A few months ago I found the book Kamishibai Man by Allen Say at my local public library. My kids and I enjoyed it and read it several times.

   Here is the Amazon entry:
   http://www.amazon.com/Kamishibai-Man-Allen-Say/dp/0618479546

   Posted by: robertogreco on November 7th, 2006 at 4:20 am

6. Great article- got a flashback from ancient storytellers in the middle-age!Cultural scientific very interesting what you wrote!!!!!!!
   Keep on goin’!

   Posted by: Anne on November 7th, 2006 at 4:27 am

7. amazing!now we know how the japanese manga has been so inpired by these kamishibai.
   nice article!

   Posted by: fisto on November 7th, 2006 at 7:10 am

8. This is wonderful! Thanks for keeping alive a great cultural tradition. May I post a link to this site on my haiku blog?

   thanks.

   Posted by: Judy on November 7th, 2006 at 8:24 am

9. when I see the story collection of Mr. Nagata, it triggers my childhood memory. we really should reserve our traditional folk art very well.

   Posted by: keanu zhang on November 7th, 2006 at 11:40 am

10. The guys in white caps resemble the KKK. Or is it just me?

    Posted by: Alexander on November 7th, 2006 at 11:56 am

11. Hello Judy ♪Thanks for your comment. Ofcouse, please use this site for your blog.

    Posted by: ryoko on November 7th, 2006 at 12:11 pm

12. Very nice article!

    Posted by: Sergio on November 7th, 2006 at 1:02 pm

13. maybe nakata can record his voice with his story-card, as a flash movie.
    so him can tell the storys to everyone.

    Posted by: x-noise on November 7th, 2006 at 1:18 pm

14. Very nice article indeed. A true storyteller. Almost brought a lump to my throat there… :-)

    Posted by: Massimo Fiorentino on November 7th, 2006 at 4:21 pm

15. Interesting post.
    I knew something about Ogon Bat and the storyteller in Japan but not like that and never seen a picture of them…Thanks!!!

    Posted by: Luca T. on November 7th, 2006 at 5:24 pm

16. Nice! Which park does he perform in? I’d like to visit the sweet shop and take in a performance.

    By the way, kamishibai is evolving!

    Suzu (aka Takafumi Suzuki), a writer/editor friend, does a contemporary version of kamishibai in Tokyo from time to time. He has also taken them to the streets of London and NYC. He writes surreal stories about the human condition (which are more for adults) with original illustrations and usually accompanied by live music - violin, tabla or other instruments to suit the story. After seeing one of Suzu’s performances in Tokyo, another friend, Kian Pourian, adapted the kamishibai format for a new play for his travelling children’s theatre in Germany.

    Posted by: sonia on November 7th, 2006 at 6:35 pm

17. Are the picture slides painted on wood? Does he paint the pictures himself? Does he slide the pictures in as he tells the story? What exactly does kamishibai mean? Great story about someone trying to keep a great tradition from extinction. BTW, I don’t think flash animations of the story will have quite the same effect. If you have ever been to a live dramatic performance, you will know what I mean. The live voice has a magic all its own.

    Posted by: stedawa on November 7th, 2006 at 8:29 pm

18. there should be more people in the world like him today.

    Posted by: Aaron on November 8th, 2006 at 1:05 am

19. Wow! He makes a manga come to life. That’s amazing.

    Posted by: jarr on November 8th, 2006 at 6:19 am

20. fantastic story and a fantastic man. may he continue long. life is a story and a story is life.

    Posted by: minako on November 8th, 2006 at 8:08 pm

21. really really rare.. i always pay salute to those are really enjoy and passionate to what they are doing.. without looking the profit, instead the spirit of retain the culture.. cool.

    Posted by: munchy on November 9th, 2006 at 10:05 pm

22. What a nice article!He should be honored as one of Japan’s ‘National Treasures’.I also would like to know where he performs, so maybe I can see him next time I visit Tokyo.

    Posted by: June on November 9th, 2006 at 11:36 pm

23. Amazing! Japan rocks!

    Posted by: Hakan on November 10th, 2006 at 6:24 pm

24. Very interesting article and a great magazine.
    Pingmag is in my bookmarks now!

    Posted by: Artoony on December 16th, 2006 at 5:40 am

25. In the part of Spain i am from storytelling has a lot of importance, but over the time it´s popularity is going dow.Mostly all storytellers now perform in clubs and in a comic way.
    Great to read about how this works in Japan, but bit sad to see it has nearly dissapeard!

    Posted by: SupremeMonkey on February 6th, 2007 at 8:42 am

26. Nice article - I’ve had an interest in kamishibai for many years. A comment above asked some questions: kamishibai literally means “paper drama” - the idea was to get a crowd of kids together with the show, then sell them candy.
    At least 10 years ago there was still a kamishibai re-creation performance a few times a day in Ueno park, in a little museum by Shinobazu pond - it may still be going on. I recorded one story, and took photos. Maybe I should dig it up and put it on youtube…
    I also saw a young guy doing it in Hiroshima at the peace park some years ago. If you google it, you’ll see there is a mini-revival going on, but there are probably very few originals like Mr. Nagata left.

    Posted by: gerry on June 1st, 2007 at 1:15 am

27. Here in America, a few children’s librarians and school media specialists use kamishibai to introduce our children to Japanese culture. Our kids love it! I often show my graduate students how it works and they are fascinated with it.

    I didn’t know the connection to manga, but it makes sense, and manga are popular with American children and teens, too. Long life and prosperity to Mr. and Mrs. Nagata!

    Posted by: Holly on February 4th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

28. i love his storyies they rock!

    Posted by: mariam on February 27th, 2008 at 11:54 pm

29. it is scary the skeleton

    Posted by: Anonymous on March 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am

30. i gotta say pure evil i love the evil i think?

    Posted by: Mona on March 22nd, 2008 at 1:54 am

31. awesome.. those illustrations are amazing

    Posted by: adam on April 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

32. I got the opportunity to meet Mr. Nagata and see his performance in Tokyo. What a treasure. I hope the art of kamishibai is preserved for the sake of future generations.

    Posted by: Hama B on July 26th, 2008 at 4:29 am

33. The YouTube link no longer works… But I found another one which does: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-144382321565419002&ei=Mnu2SK_UGYzYqwOR8-TJDA&q=%E2%80%9COugon+Bat%E2%80%9D&vt=lf

    Posted by: Kristine on August 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

34. Hey,
    I am a teacher at a German primary school. After reading this article I decided to buy a Kamishibai for my lessons. I bought the Kreashibai theatre. The kids in my lessons like it a lot!!!! Thanks for the great idea!!!

    Posted by: Jason Burk on August 10th, 2009 at 1:24 am

35. This was such a great post! I had never heard of kamishibai (the cards) until my wife started buying them for our kids. They are quite fun. Now we’ve built an entire website on the concept :-)

    Posted by: Blake on March 8th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

36. [...] a wonderful article I found on Ping-Mag about the origins of manga and a lost art in Japan known as Kamishibai. Kamishibai was live [...]

    Posted by: The origin of manga: Storytelling Man | ralphcosentino.com on March 9th, 2010 at 3:36 am

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