Japanese Kamishibai Exhibition : Showcase III

1. Manga kamishibai : The Art of Japanese Paper Theater 

AUTHOR: Eric P. Nash
INTRODUCTION: This work explores the history, evolution, and cultural impact of kamishibai, a traditional Japanese storytelling art that combines oral narration with illustrated storyboards. The book traces kamishibai’s rise from street performances to its golden age, its influence on manga and anime, and its decline with the advent of television. Schodt also delves into the creators behind these stories, their impact during Japan’s occupation, and kamishibai’s enduring legacy in modern visual storytelling. Through rich historical insights and visual materials, the book offers a compelling look at kamishibai’s role in shaping Japanese pop culture.

2. Air Raid Shelter/ 防空壕

DATE: 1941

PLOT: Japanese Architects who lived in Europe and witnessed the massive bombing there decided to go back to Japan and popularize their knowledge on building air raid shelter as World War II begins.

3. The Greater East Asia War / 大東亜戦争

AUTHOR: Shunichiro Midori 

ARTIST: Sehoko Fukuda

DATE: 1942

PLOT: The Greater East Asia War is a wartime kamishibai produced by Japanese Picture Drama Patriotic Society (画劇報国社). Created in the early stages of the Pacific War, this propaganda piece presents Japan’s official narrative of the conflict, justifying its military campaigns. Through dramatic illustrations and nationalistic storytelling, the kamishibai aimed to rally public support, instill patriotism, and reinforce the necessity of Japan’s war efforts.

4. Human Bullet: The Invincible Japanese Army in the China Incident / 肉弾 : 支那事変 無敵陸軍 

EDITOR / PUBLISHER: Saburo Hirai
DATE: 1937
PLOT: This is a 3D news Kamishibai created during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It serves as wartime propaganda, glorifying the Japanese Imperial Army’s strength and resilience. The title “Human Bullet” suggests themes of self-sacrifice and unwavering devotion to the military cause, reflecting the nationalist fervor of the time. Utilizing the immersive format of 3D kamishibai, the work was likely designed to engage audiences with vivid, dramatic visuals that reinforced Japan’s war narrative.

5.Kamishibai and War: Children on the Home Front / 紙芝居と戦争 : 銃後の子どもたち

AUTHOR / CREATOR: Sakuramoto Tomio, Konno Toshihiko
INTRODUCTION: This book explores the role of kamishibai as a tool for wartime propaganda, particularly in shaping the minds of children on the home front. This work examines how kamishibai was used to instill patriotism, militaristic values, and loyalty to the state during times of conflict.

6. Magazines Educational Kamishibai and Kamishibai (1938–1950) / 雑誌「教育紙芝居」・「紙芝居」

INTRODUCTION: This collection covers the journey of two significant kamishibai periodicals published during and after World War II. Educational Kamishibai and Kamishibai served as key platforms for disseminating stories that reflected Japan’s shifting social and political landscape. During the wartime period, these magazines contributed to propaganda efforts, promoting nationalistic and militaristic narratives aimed at children. However, in the postwar years, they transitioned toward themes of peace, reconstruction, and moral education. Spanning from 1938 to 1950, these publications provide insight into how Kamishibai was used as both a tool of state ideology and a medium for cultural storytelling in Japan’s changing historical context.

7. The Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse / マレー沖海戦 

AUTHOR: Tsutomu Horio

ARTIST: Han Kotani

DATE: 1943
PLOT: The Battle of Malaya Offshore is a wartime kamishibai work produced in Japan during World War II, depicting the events of the Battle of Malaya on December 10, 1941. This battle saw the Imperial Japanese Navy’s air forces successfully sink the British Royal Navy’s battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, marking a significant turning point in naval warfare by demonstrating the dominance of air power over traditional battleships. Approved by the Japanese Navy Ministry (Permit No. 5715), this kamishibai served as wartime propaganda, aiming to boost morale and emphasize Japan’s naval achievements.

8. Collected Educational Kamishibai: Gozan Takahashi and Kindergarten Kamishibai / 教育紙芝居集成 : 高橋五山と「幼稚園紙芝居」

EDITOR: Yōko Takahashi

AUTHOR: Michiaki Kawato, Sukeyuki Miura, and Yoshiki Yonemura.
INTRODUCTION: This work explores the contributions of Gozan Takahashi, a key figure in the development of educational kamishibai in Japan. Focusing on Kindergarten Kamishibai, this book examines how Takahashi’s works helped shape early childhood education through illustrated storytelling.

9. Propaganda Performed: kamishibai in Japan's Fifteen Year War

AUTHOR: Sharalyn Orbaugh
INTRODUCTION: This is the first scholarly book in English (and the most complete in any language) on kamishibai, a performance/visual/textual art form that was popular on the streets of Japan from 1930-1970, at times eclipsing even the popularity of movies or manga. After providing an introduction to the form and a history of its development in the 1930s, the study turns to an in-depth exploration of the way kamishibai was used for propaganda purposes by governmental and quasi-governmental agencies during Japan's Fifteen Year War, 1931 to 1945. Three chapters analyze a number of wartime kamishibai plays, divided by the demographic segment to which their specific propaganda messages were addressed: very young children, older boys from poor neighborhoods, rural girls, farmers, male urban shopkeepers, widows, etc. Then the findings from those analyses are incorporated into a consideration of the phenomenology and neurobiology of propaganda: how this particular medium with its unique combination of text, image and performance, and its unique circumstances of consumption (always in a tightly-huddled group of friends, neighbors, schoolmates or workmates) functioned in helping to create the propaganda environment that permeated Japan during the Fifteen Year War.

10. Japan’s War as Seen Through National Policy Kamishibai / 国策紙芝居からみる日本の戦争

EDITOR: Tsuneo Yasuda,
PLOT: This is a study of wartime kamishibai as a tool of state propaganda. This work is the product of research conducted by the Kanagawa University Japanese Folk Culture Research Institute’s Non-Textual Materials Study Center, specifically the Wartime Japan Mass Media research team. The book examines how kamishibai was mobilized to disseminate nationalist ideology, reinforce war efforts, and shape public perception during Japan’s militarist era.