origem e história das imagens. é um silêncio longínquo que ainda perdura, o que vem do Japão.
"When I think of my childhood in Japan, I think of Kamishibai. It means "paper theater". Every afternoon, the kamishibai man came on a bicycle that had a big wooden box mounted on the back seat. The box had drawers full of candies and a stage at the top. We bought candies and listened to the man's stories.
As he told the stories, the kamishibai man would slide out the pictures cards in the stage one by one and put them in the back, like shuffling a deck of cards. The stories were actually one never-ending tale, with each installment ending with the hero or heroine hanging from a cliff or getting pushed off it.
"To be continued", the kamishibai man would say with a grin, and we children would groan, but not too much. Tomorrow the hero and heroine would be saved for new adventures, and we would have our candies.
Yes, they were cliffhangers. So when I came to America, that was one expression that nobody had to explain to me. Today, any sort of cliffhanger reminds me of the happy memories that the kamishibai had given me. And with this book, though it has no high cliffs, let me be your "paper theater man" for a day. You'll have to get your own sweets."
Allen Say no prefácio ao seu livro Kamishibai Man.
Allen Say é um poema de papel. Tea with Milk.
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