Ta-chan (“I wish to make the whole world smile.”)
Experience the joyful tradition of Kamishibai (paper play) at Seattle Japanese Garden!
Ta-chan, a kamishibai artist from Nagoya, Japan will be touring all through town this fall and will perform at the Garden on September 17th and October 8th. Bring your whole family to the Garden for this special opportunity.
Kamishibai or "paper play" is a form of Japanese street theatre and storytelling that was popular during the Depression of the 1930s and the post-war period in Japan until the advent of television. Kamishibai was told by a kamishibaiya (kamishibai narrators) who travelled to street corners with sets of illustrated boards that they placed in a miniature stage-like device secure on a bicycle. As they narrated their stories, they would change the images in the devide. Kamishibaiya would also sell candies before his story, so that children could eat it while listening to the story.
Kamishibai has its earliest origins in Japanese Buddhist temples, where Buddhist monks from the eighth century onward used emakimono ("picture scrolls") as pictorial aids to recount the history of the monasteries. Many believe that Kamishibai is the foundation for Japanese anime. Given anime’s significant popularity in the U.S., we hope to bring awareness to how Japanese culture is integrated into modern life and inspire appreciation for traditional storytelling from all foreign cultures.
About Ta-chan Tatsuo “Ta-chan” Kawakami began his acting career in a local community theatre during his college years in Nagoya, Japan. After college, he joined a professional children’s theatre, Urinko, and acted with them for six years. Tacchan then broke out on his own to do kamishibai in 2007, founded his own troupe, Marguerite Family, performing for over 100,000 people. He performs across Japan at roughly 150 locations every year, including schools, hospitals, community libraries, temples, retirement homes, private parties, parks, malls, and amusement parks. He makes appearances on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines and is the winner of the Japan Street Kamishibai Competition in Numazu for two consecutive years. He is the only full time Kamishibai storyteller left in Japan.
Saturday, September 17, 2022| Family Saturday - Respect for Elders Day
First show starts at 11 a.m. & Second show starts at 1:00 p.m.
Each performance is a one-hour program with four stories.
* Free admission to all youth 12 and younger and seniors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Family Saturday and Respect for Elders Day.
Saturday, October 8, 2022 | Family Saturday – Maple Festival
First show starts at 11 a.m. & Second show starts at 1:00 p.m.
Each performance is a one-hour program with four stories.
* Free admission to all youth 12 and younger from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Family Saturday.
This tour is made possible through collaboration with Youth Theatre Northwest and UW East Asia Resource Center and the support from 4Culture.
