Kamishibai: Crazy Japanese Story Telling!

Every week Smosh-pit blogger Lance writes to us from his new home... in JAPAN!

Kamishibai is the Japanese art of storytelling with pictures.

A kamishibai storyteller tries not to look creepy.

If you read manga, you already know the Japanese are born storytellers. Especially when using a bit of artwork to help us understand their impossible language.

Traditionally, an old guy would show up at a park or playground with candy. They would bang on their drum or woodblocks to signal the children that the story was about to begin.

The children who bought candy from the storyteller would get front row seats--and a chance to participate.

A non-creepy, female kamishibai storyteller in full regalia--with woodblocks.

Nowadays, kids make their own kamishibai stories for school projects, competitions and parties.

They’re often a new twist on an old tale like Momotaro, Urashima Taro or The Crane Wife.

Here is a unique, somewhat disturbing Kamishibai version of, “The Tortoise and The Hare” written (in English) and illustrated by 13 year old students at a girls’ junior high school in Tokyo.

“One day there was a tortoise and a hare. The hare said, “You are the slowest in the world!” The tortoise was angry and said, “Then, let’s race to the hill over there.”

“The race started. At firt, the hare was faster than the tortoise. But the hare was made to drink a sleeping drug by the tortoise’s underlings. The hare thought, ‘the tortoise will not catch up with me. He was relieved and went sleep. WHAP!”