About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Before television was found in every home, Japanese children were entertained by traveling storytellers who told tales accompanied by painted pictures. This style of storytelling was called kamishibai, or "paper theater."

Kamishibai is a unique part of Japan's tradition of visual storytelling, and prior to Nash's effort, there were few books in English documenting this aspect of manga history.


Manga Kamishibai offers a fascinating look at the images and stories of this disappearing artform, but its promising premise is weighed down by Nash's pompous prose. An art book that's best browsed and not read.



Pros

• Offers a rare glimpse into a uniquely Japanese style of live visual storytelling
• Lavishly illustrated with color kamishibai images and rare archival photos of Japan's past
• A cool, coffee table-worthy art book for manga and Japanese pop culture connoisseurs
• Fred Schodt's introduction offers a personal anecdote filled with nostalgia for a disappearing art

Cons

• Nash's captions are filled with pretentious, irrelevant commentary that distracts from the images
• The references to contemporary Western movies, comics and culture seem tenuous at times
• This book needs more of the voices and memories of actual kamishibai storytellers
• Represents a missed opportunity to profile manga legends who got their start in kamishibai
• Why just tease readers by only explaining portions of any given kamishibai story?

Description

• Author: Eric P. Nash
• Publisher:
  • Abrams ComicArts (US)
• ISBN: 978-0810953031
• Cover Price: $35.00 US / $45.50 CANADA / £ 19.99 UK
• Age Rating: Not rated but suitable for T – Teens Age 13+ for some graphic wartime imagery
  More about content ratings.
• Manga Genres:
  • Art Book
  • Historical / Biography
• US Publication Date: September 2009
  
• Book Description: 304 pages, color illustrations

Guide Review - Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater

Some have suggested that manga is huge in Japan because Japanese culture is infused with a strong visual storytelling tradition, including scrolls, ukiyo-e prints and kamishibai. "Kami" means paper, and "shibai" means "drama" or "entertainment," and that's exactly what kamishibai is -- a form of live street theater, where a storyteller narrates a tale illustrated by a series of painted or printed picture cards.

The heyday of kamishibai was during a time of great change and turmoil in Japan -- just before, during and after World War II. Movies, comics and radio shows were around, but so were kamishibai storytellers, who'd travel from neighborhood to neighborhood to tell stories and sell candy to kids. In addition to the kamishibai storytellers, there were also illustrators who created the picture stories -- some even went on to careers as successful manga artists. Created in the days before a television could be found in every home, kamishibai stories offer a mirror of the dreams, fears, politics and culture of a dramatic period of Japanese history.

So with a fascinating subject and a wealth of amazing imagery to work with, why did Nash muck things up injecting so much florid and irrelevant prose into this book? Perhaps the answer lies in Nash's prior published efforts -- his other books aren't about comics or even Japanese culture -- they're about New York City architecture.

Perhaps to assert his comics cred, Nash often haphazardly name-drops references to American comics into numerous captions. Here's one particularly eye-roll inducing example:

"The dingy Tokyo neighborhood filled with refuse and lean-tos has the wistful crepuscular quality that characterized Steve Ditko's end panels of Spider-Man returning to the contradictions of his quotidian life as the teenage Peter Parker."

Say what? First of all, the image he's describing PRE-DATES Steve Ditko's Spider-Man comics. Second, what's with those pretentious, only-used-in-spelling-bees words like "crepuscular" and "quotidian"? Third, why bother making this comparison? To suggest a tenuous connection between Japanese kamishibai and Western superhero comics, or to make Nash feel like a comics expert?
In any case, Nash's self-indulgent prose feels like going to a movie and having someone in back of you say, "This reminds of that scene in Die Hard... Ooh! Ooh! Here comes the good part!" You just want to slap the guy.

On the upside, Manga Kamishibai is lavishly illustrated with numerous examples of various art styles, stories and photos of past and present-day kamishibai storytellers in action. There are gems of useful and fascinating info here if you care to wade through the dense prose. If you really want to enjoy this book, just look at the pictures. Trust me, it's just better that way.