Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper TheaterBefore giant robots, space ships, and masked super heroes filled the pages of Japanese comic books--known as manga--such characters were regularly seen on the streets of Japan in kamishibai stories. Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater tells the history of this fascinating and nearly vanished Japanese art form that paved the way for modern-day comic books, and is the missing link in the development of modern manga. During the height of kamishibai in the 1930s, storytellers would travel to villages and set up their butais (miniature wooden prosceniums), through which illustrated boards were shown. The storytellers acted as entertainers and reporters, narrating tales that ranged from action-packed westerns, period pieces, traditional folk tales, and melodramas, to nightly news reporting on World War II. More than just explaining the pictures, a good storyteller would act out the parts of each character with different voices and facial expressions. Through extensive research and interviews, author Eric P. Nash pieces together the remarkable history of this art and its creators. With rare images reproduced for the first time from Japanese archives, including full-length kamishibai stories, combined with expert writing, this book is an essential guide to the origins of manga. |
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adventure American comics American occupation art form Astro Boy audience banzai Betty Boop bomb shelter BOTTOM brushstrokes candy cape cartoon censors cinematic civil defense close-ups colors comic book cultural episode eyes film flag flying foreground GeGeGe no Kitaro gekiga genbaku giant robot girl Golden Bat Golden Mask illustrated images Japan Japanese alps Japanese animation Japanese soldiers jidai jungle Kabuki kamishi kamishibai kamishibai and manga Kamishibai artists kamishibai creators kamishibai featured kamishibai stories Kata kibyoshi Kintaro kokusaku kamishibai LEFT look manga manga characters manga-ka medium monster Moonlight Mask Morishita-san Nazo ninja OPPOSITE Osaka Osamu Tezuka painting panel paper theater Paratroopers popular portrayed postwar Prince of Gamma propaganda raids ronin samurai Sazen SCAP scene serial Shigeru Mizuki Shonen shots shows silent storytellers street-corner kamishibai style super hero swastika sword Takeo Nagamatsu Tanuki television Tokyo train ukiyo-e victory villain Western White Fox woman wooden young