Research Catalog

Title

Propaganda performed : kamishibai in Japan's fifteen year war / by Sharalyn Orbaugh.

Author

Orbaugh, Sharalyn

Publication

Leiden : Brill, 2015.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 365 pages : illustrations (chiefly color); 26 cm

Summary

"The first in-depth scholarly study in English of the Japanese performance medium kamishibai, Sharalyn Orbaughs Propaganda Performed illuminates the vibrant street culture of 1930s Japan as well as the visual and narrative rhetoric of Japanese propaganda in World War II. Emerging from Japan's cities in the late 1920s, kamishibai rapidly transformed from a cheap amusement associated with poverty into the most popular form of juvenile entertainment, eclipsing even film and manga. By the time kamishibai died as a living medium in the 1970s it had left behind indelible influences on popular culture forms such as manga and anime, as well as on avant-garde cinema, theater, and art. From 1932 to 1945, however, kamishibai also became a vehicle for propaganda messages aimed not primarily at children, but at adults. A mixture of script, image, and performance, the medium was particularly suited to conveying populist, emotionally compelling messages to audiences of all classes, ages, and literacy levels, making it a crucial tool in the governments efforts to mobilize the domestic populace in Japan and to pacify the inhabitants of the empire's colonies and occupied territories. With seven complete translations of wartime plays, over 300 color illustrations from hard-to-access kamishibai play cards, and photographs of prewar performances, this study constitutes an archive of wartime history in addition to providing a detailed analysis of the rhetoric of political persuasion." -- Publisher's description

Series Statement

Japanese visual culture ; volume 13

Uniform Title

Japanese visual culture ; v. 13.

Alternative Title

Kamishibai in Japan's fifteen year war

Subject

• Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
• World War (1939-1945)
• 1900-1999
• Kamishibai > History and criticism
• Street theater > Japan
• Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945 > Propaganda
• World War, 1939-1945 > Japan > Propaganda
• Propaganda, Japanese > History > 20th century
• Kamishibai
• Manners and customs
• Propaganda
• Propaganda, Japanese
• Street theater
• Japan > Social life and customs > 1912-1945
• Japan

Genre/Form

• Criticism, interpretation, etc.
• History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-352) and index.

Contents

Record of the cheerful troop -- Rice and soldiers -- Friendly air raid shelter -- The nine-meter long letter -- Letter from father -- Mother of a war god -- The unsung mother.

Call Number

MWEL (Japan) 15-1411

ISBN

• 9789004248823
• 900424882X

LCCN

2015300951

OCLC

879567628

Author

Orbaugh, Sharalyn, author.

Title

Propaganda performed : kamishibai in Japan's fifteen year war / by Sharalyn Orbaugh.

Publisher

Leiden : Brill, 2015.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Japanese visual culture ; volume 13

Japanese visual culture ; v. 13.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-352) and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Research Call Number

MWEL (Japan) 15-1411