Mister Kamishibai

With his little theater on the bike, Mister Kamishibai is ready to tell stories. Stories about fairy tales, about animals, about you and me. Sitting still is not quite forbidden yet, because Mister Kamishibai would like you to participate in the story too. Kamishibai literally means 'paper theater'. This form of storytelling caused a stir in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. Kamishibai storytellers then rode around with a bicycle on which the small wooden theater was mounted on the back. They installed themselves on a street corner or in a park, and sold candy to the gathered audience. Children who bought something got the best seats to follow the story as well as possible. At the time, more than 5 million children and adults enjoyed the kamishibai almost daily. With the rise of television, the mobile storytellers slowly disappeared from the street scene. To now reappear…