The word “kamishibai” is derived from two Japanese words: “kami”, meaning paper, and “shibai”, meaning theater or stage. Some call it “paper theater” and “suitcase theater”, but one thing is for sure: it’s the art of storytelling and narration using visuals, which merges several forms of art.
A young Japanese student was so inspired by her school’s involvement in the Antarctic Flag program that she created her own story.
When the children and teachers from the United States came to Yamanouchi Higashi Elementyary school during the 1998 Winter Olympics for the Blue Ice International Teacher / Student Program they were presented with the first public unveiling of “An Antarctic Story” – a Kamishibai (a traditional form of Japanese storytelling that uses large picture cards as the medium).
The author was an inspired and talented 4th grader named Yuki Tanbo who attended Yamanouchi Elementary School. She was fascinated by penguins and incorporated her connection with Blue Ice International and her excitement about learning that meteorites could be found on the blue ice in the Antarctic to create her own story – featuring “Pingoo the Penguin” as the main character.
Yuki Tanbo was in the 4th grade when she put together the picture story (Kamishibai) of Pingu the Penguin and his family. Miss Yazawa, the assistant principal at Yamanouchi Higashi Elementary School helped Yuki’s classmates become involved and the picture story became a school activity.
Japanese children seriously study English in middle school, so Horigani Middle School children translated the script/text of the story into English. The local newspaper heard of this frenzy of activity and ensured that the story reached the local community.