Kamishibai (kami means paper, shibai drama, paper drama so to speak) is part of a long tradition of visual storytelling originating in the Japanese Buddhist temples of the 12th century, where monks used picture scrolls to convey stories with a moral lesson to a mostly illiterate audience. this story format endured as a narra- tive method for centuries and was later also the basis of the popular manga culture.

Moving around on a bicycle with a small wooden kamishibai-theater mounted on the back, the storyteller would first sell candies and snacks on street corners or in parks before starting his performance. Children who bought candy got the best places in front. After which the storyteller would tell several stories usinga set of illustrated boards, with the pictures onthe front and the text on the back. A sort of miniature movie, accompanied occasionally by sounds and music. in its heyday, from the 1920s until the 1950s, more than 5 million children and adults were entertained by kami- shibai every day. As television began to lure children indoors, these storytellers gradually disappeared.

ABC is part of a worldwide revival of this unique storytelling tradition and is offering portable theaters, literacy-workshops and stimu- lating teacher training courses for schools and libraries. Furthermore, we transform old picture books and collaborate with writers and illustra- tors to create new kamishibai for our story- collection; we sell portable theaters and we offer street kamishibai activities on demand.

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