Ge-ge-ge no nyobou 5/12
May. 13th, 2010 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarkera.k.a. telling stories in the street
The old man was sitting in the kitchen, with his square bundle set beside him. He said, "I'm sorry to just drop in like this." Shigeru assured him that he was happy to see him. "It's been three or four years now?" The old man looked at Fumie and introduced himself. "My name is Sugiura." Shigeru smiled and said, "What do you think he does?" Fumie looked puzzled. Shigeru and Sugiura smiled at each other. Then the old man whacked two fingers on the table, and began a loud, fast recitation. The short speech ended with "And come back for tomorrow's episode!" Fumie said, "Oh, you're a kamishibai man!" Shigeru said, "Not just a kamishibai man, but the number one kamishibai in Japan!"
This is where they ran the theme.
Before we pick up the thread of the story, let me explain kamishibai. It was an old style of telling stories, with a set of pictures on cardboard. The storyteller set up a little frame with the pictures in it, and told the story, pulling the pictures out one by one so that the audience could see the next picture. Also, apparently kamishibai usually sold candy -- my wife says it was sweet sticky stuff, and you bought two sticks and used them to wind the candy up and eat it while you watched. Looked to me as if someone cooked some sugar and water in a pot, then swiped the sticks through the melted sugar. My wife says that's about what it was, but when you wound the candy on the sticks, it got white. Poor man's cotton candy? Something like that.
Fumie said she used to go listen to kamishibai at the temple in her town. There was a flashback to a crowd of children watching a round faced man telling stories. Then Sugiura said, "But people don't come any more. Not like when you drew kamishibai in Kobe for me."
Fumie said, "What? I didn't know Shigeru drew kamishibai." There was a little talk, and...
It was several years ago, in Kobe. Shigeru was walking outside with a large sketch pad, when a group of young boys almost ran over him. He followed, curious, to see a small crowd watching Sugiura with a kamishibai stage on a bicycle. Sugiura was telling a story, banging his hand on the wooden platform behind the frame, pulling a sheet out, pulling one sheet halfway out to show a lurking black figure, then pulling it the rest of the way. A young boy tried to interrupt to buy candy, and Sugiura ignored him, going on with the show. Panel by panel, he told the story to rapt faces.
After the show finished, Sugiura was sweeping up the area, and said to Shigeru, "Who are you? I saw you watching the whole show." Shigeru said, "I'm an artist. Maybe I should try kamishibai." The old man looked worried, and Shigeru assured him, "No, no, I can't tell stories like you do. Look, I live in the Mizuku apartments nearby. Please, come look at my drawings."
In an apartment with evident holes in the walls, and a bare lightbulb dangling from the ceiling, Shigeru showed Sugiura, the old man, his drawings. And they talked about doing drawings for kamishibai. Sugiura said, "Mizuki, they're very good. I'll buy your work for my show. Maybe... 200 yen? Or 100 yen?" Shigeru said, "Okay, but my name is Murai. Mizuki is the apartment building."
In the kitchen, Shigeru laughed, "So I started using Mizuki as my pen name, because I finally got tired of reminding him what my real name was." Shigeru remembered, "That's where I learned to draw fast, too. I had to draw every day." Fumie said, "What? Why every day?" Sugiura said, "I would tell a story, and stop. Then I would sit with Shigeru and tell him what tomorrow's story would be, and he had to draw them, because the children were waiting to hear it the next day."
Back in the Kobe apartment, Sugiura and Shigeru talked about what to draw next. Shigeru suggested doing something scary. Sugiura thought, and said, "Have you ever heard about Ameya no yuurei (the ghost of Ameya?)" Just then, the lightbulb went out. Sugiura calmly struck a match and lit a candle. "It's an old story, and that ghost had a child, called hakaba no kitaro (Kitaro of the Graveyard)."
Shigeru grabbed a pencil and started sketching.
In the kitchen, Fumie looked at Shigeru. "Do you mean that you started drawing Kitaro back then?" Shigeru said, "Yes. I did a whole set of kamishibai. I think there were a hundred sheets." Fumie said, "I wish I could see those old drawings." Shigeru shook his head. "They're all gone, I think." Sugiura raised his hand. "Wait, I can show you a little." He unwrapped his bundle, revealing a kamishibai box and frame. Then he pulled out a drawer and dug through the thick sheets in it. And pulled out... Hakaba no Kitaro, by Mizuki Shigeru. It was the cover sheet for a set of drawings, with a monstrous face with one eye. Sugiura said, "But I only have this, I don't have the rest of the set anymore."
Sugiura sighed. "I've come to Tokyo to help set up a union for kamishibai performers, but kamishibai is finished, I think. This is all I have left." He pulled a stack out of the box and showed it to them. Shigeru and Fumie begged him to do a show for them. He said, "Well, just one, I guess." So he set the frame on the table and proceeded to do a show in their kitchen. This was interspersed with flashbacks to the youngsters watching in the street or the temple.
Later, Fumie laid a blanket over the sleeping Sugiura in the kitchen. Shigeru said, "I'm glad to see he's still healthy. Four years ago, when I moved here, he disappeared." Fumie asked what happened to kamishibai, and Shigeru said, "I think it's like ships. When steam came, sailing ships disappeared. Kamishibai is like that, a past era. Kids now play baseball, watch TV in the evening. So where there once were 10 kids watching, then there were eight, then two. And none."
The clock started chiming, and Fumie looked at the sleeping Sugiura. "It's so late. Where do you suppose he was going to stay tonight?" Shigeru said, "Let's let him stay here tonight."
Later, Fumie was looking at her budget, sighing. She picked up a leaf, and rubbed it. "Can't it change into money?" (There are Japanese fairy tales about changing leaves into money.) She glanced up at the sketch of the white sheet, and it waved its hand back and forth, no, no.
to be continued...
The old man was sitting in the kitchen, with his square bundle set beside him. He said, "I'm sorry to just drop in like this." Shigeru assured him that he was happy to see him. "It's been three or four years now?" The old man looked at Fumie and introduced himself. "My name is Sugiura." Shigeru smiled and said, "What do you think he does?" Fumie looked puzzled. Shigeru and Sugiura smiled at each other. Then the old man whacked two fingers on the table, and began a loud, fast recitation. The short speech ended with "And come back for tomorrow's episode!" Fumie said, "Oh, you're a kamishibai man!" Shigeru said, "Not just a kamishibai man, but the number one kamishibai in Japan!"
This is where they ran the theme.
Before we pick up the thread of the story, let me explain kamishibai. It was an old style of telling stories, with a set of pictures on cardboard. The storyteller set up a little frame with the pictures in it, and told the story, pulling the pictures out one by one so that the audience could see the next picture. Also, apparently kamishibai usually sold candy -- my wife says it was sweet sticky stuff, and you bought two sticks and used them to wind the candy up and eat it while you watched. Looked to me as if someone cooked some sugar and water in a pot, then swiped the sticks through the melted sugar. My wife says that's about what it was, but when you wound the candy on the sticks, it got white. Poor man's cotton candy? Something like that.
Fumie said she used to go listen to kamishibai at the temple in her town. There was a flashback to a crowd of children watching a round faced man telling stories. Then Sugiura said, "But people don't come any more. Not like when you drew kamishibai in Kobe for me."
Fumie said, "What? I didn't know Shigeru drew kamishibai." There was a little talk, and...
It was several years ago, in Kobe. Shigeru was walking outside with a large sketch pad, when a group of young boys almost ran over him. He followed, curious, to see a small crowd watching Sugiura with a kamishibai stage on a bicycle. Sugiura was telling a story, banging his hand on the wooden platform behind the frame, pulling a sheet out, pulling one sheet halfway out to show a lurking black figure, then pulling it the rest of the way. A young boy tried to interrupt to buy candy, and Sugiura ignored him, going on with the show. Panel by panel, he told the story to rapt faces.
After the show finished, Sugiura was sweeping up the area, and said to Shigeru, "Who are you? I saw you watching the whole show." Shigeru said, "I'm an artist. Maybe I should try kamishibai." The old man looked worried, and Shigeru assured him, "No, no, I can't tell stories like you do. Look, I live in the Mizuku apartments nearby. Please, come look at my drawings."
In an apartment with evident holes in the walls, and a bare lightbulb dangling from the ceiling, Shigeru showed Sugiura, the old man, his drawings. And they talked about doing drawings for kamishibai. Sugiura said, "Mizuki, they're very good. I'll buy your work for my show. Maybe... 200 yen? Or 100 yen?" Shigeru said, "Okay, but my name is Murai. Mizuki is the apartment building."
In the kitchen, Shigeru laughed, "So I started using Mizuki as my pen name, because I finally got tired of reminding him what my real name was." Shigeru remembered, "That's where I learned to draw fast, too. I had to draw every day." Fumie said, "What? Why every day?" Sugiura said, "I would tell a story, and stop. Then I would sit with Shigeru and tell him what tomorrow's story would be, and he had to draw them, because the children were waiting to hear it the next day."
Back in the Kobe apartment, Sugiura and Shigeru talked about what to draw next. Shigeru suggested doing something scary. Sugiura thought, and said, "Have you ever heard about Ameya no yuurei (the ghost of Ameya?)" Just then, the lightbulb went out. Sugiura calmly struck a match and lit a candle. "It's an old story, and that ghost had a child, called hakaba no kitaro (Kitaro of the Graveyard)."
Shigeru grabbed a pencil and started sketching.
In the kitchen, Fumie looked at Shigeru. "Do you mean that you started drawing Kitaro back then?" Shigeru said, "Yes. I did a whole set of kamishibai. I think there were a hundred sheets." Fumie said, "I wish I could see those old drawings." Shigeru shook his head. "They're all gone, I think." Sugiura raised his hand. "Wait, I can show you a little." He unwrapped his bundle, revealing a kamishibai box and frame. Then he pulled out a drawer and dug through the thick sheets in it. And pulled out... Hakaba no Kitaro, by Mizuki Shigeru. It was the cover sheet for a set of drawings, with a monstrous face with one eye. Sugiura said, "But I only have this, I don't have the rest of the set anymore."
Sugiura sighed. "I've come to Tokyo to help set up a union for kamishibai performers, but kamishibai is finished, I think. This is all I have left." He pulled a stack out of the box and showed it to them. Shigeru and Fumie begged him to do a show for them. He said, "Well, just one, I guess." So he set the frame on the table and proceeded to do a show in their kitchen. This was interspersed with flashbacks to the youngsters watching in the street or the temple.
Later, Fumie laid a blanket over the sleeping Sugiura in the kitchen. Shigeru said, "I'm glad to see he's still healthy. Four years ago, when I moved here, he disappeared." Fumie asked what happened to kamishibai, and Shigeru said, "I think it's like ships. When steam came, sailing ships disappeared. Kamishibai is like that, a past era. Kids now play baseball, watch TV in the evening. So where there once were 10 kids watching, then there were eight, then two. And none."
The clock started chiming, and Fumie looked at the sleeping Sugiura. "It's so late. Where do you suppose he was going to stay tonight?" Shigeru said, "Let's let him stay here tonight."
Later, Fumie was looking at her budget, sighing. She picked up a leaf, and rubbed it. "Can't it change into money?" (There are Japanese fairy tales about changing leaves into money.) She glanced up at the sketch of the white sheet, and it waved its hand back and forth, no, no.
to be continued...
