Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

During Japan’s Fifteen Year War (1931-1945), kamishibai (紙芝居) plays were one of the most widely distributed and frequently accessed media used to transmit propaganda messages to audiences in Japan and its colonies. Originally a street performance art for children that celebrated the earthy and lurid, kamishibai was repurposed by government agencies to address adults as well, and to convey to all its audiences important messages—through illustrations, script, and performance techniques—encouraging them to support the war effort. This presentation will analyze how the media characteristics that made kamishibai so popular were amplified or modified to make it maximally effective as a tool of political persuasion.