Kamishibai

Kamishibai was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Japan during the 1930’s, especially to children. Although mainly used to as entertainment, Imai Yone discovered it could be used for educational purposes, and started to teach the youth about Christianity. She would use Kamishibai as a medium to tell old and new testament stories from the Bible. However as the war progressed, the government issued that Kamishibai must be used for propaganda much to the dismay of makers its traditional and educational counterparts. The difference between the propaganda and traditional versions was that while traditional and educational were made for children, the propaganda was made mostly for adults.

Propaganda Kamishibai had multiple purposes. Sometimes, it was used to tell stories with morals like self sacrifice and family cooperation. Others, it provided instructions for the war time effort.

Work Cited

Dymsensei. "Die for Japan: Wartime Propaganda Kamishibai (paper Plays; 国策紙芝居)." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 06 June 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFavUjEYc7Y>.

Kamishibai Pictures:

http://cippodromon.blogspot.com/2009/11/manga-kamishibai.html 

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2009/manga-kamishibai-the-art-of-japanese-paper-theatre/