The Benshi Tradition and the Silver Screen: A Japanese Puppetry Spin-off

Benshi, Japan’s riveting “movie talkers” of the silent film era, drew in audiences with their live film narration and dramatic character portrayals, often with musicians providing accompaniment. This rich period of early Japanese cinema has a direct structural connection to the Japanese puppet theater tradition, in which chanters narrated stories and gave voice to silent puppets alongside theatrical shamisen music. In this two-night program, modern benshi star Ichiro Kataoka and NY-based shamisen player Sumie Kaneko come together for two screenings of stories set in the samurai era.