How to Read Kamishibai

Kamishibai stories are read from the back of illustrated cards. However, you can also tell
the story from memory or even improvise a little to add to the story.
Move the front card to the back after you finish one part of the story. The text now
showing will be the story for the card that is at the front.
The text for the title image (card 1) goes on the back of the last card, so when showing
the title image to the audience, you can read the corresponding text without turning
the card around.
When you finish the story for card 1, move it to the back of the pack. The story for card
2 which is on the back of card 1 will now be at the back for you to read. Once you havetold that part of the story, you move this card to the back and again the story for thecard 3 will now be at the back for you. You continue this for each part of the story until
the end.
Remember, the text on the back of a card does not correspond to the illustration on
its front!

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Onikko
Story by Kazuko HohkiIllustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 2

He thought about his family, for example. His dad has horns and long canine teeth, but Kanta canʼt say that heʼs evil.
He has a bad habit of secretly eating all the steamed buns at night after everyone else has gone to bed, but that seems
pretty tame compared to the evil things that other oni do in books and on TV.
His mum has a mischievous side, especially when she is trying to trick his dad - once she put a lot of chilli inside
the steamed buns, and Kanta saw her evil face and heard her evil laugh while she was doing it. But was that really evil?
Kanta heard his dadʼs loud scream in the middle of the night, but it felt like great entertainment rather than a horrible
crime.
His big sister Marumi is the most evil of all, but then again her evilness only seems to be directed at Kanta, and she isalways very protective of him in an emergency.

1Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 3

On one Setsubun night, Kanta was chased by some village kids, who threw pebbles at him rather than beans(beans are painful enough, but pebbles - ouch!). Marumi jumped in front of Kanta to shield him. The kids wereso scared by her face that they ran off. Marumi can look very scary when she sticks her canine teeth out.
Kanta dreads the Setsubun Festival. Itʼs the day just before spring arrives, when the villagers throw beansout of their houses to get rid of any evil spirits. Traditionally, the evil spirits are represented by oni. So when theyʼrethrowing beans they shout, “Fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto!” which means, ʻLuck in, oni out!ʼ. The villagers know
Kantaʼs family donʼt cause any harm, but theyʼre still oni. Thatʼs why some people take advantage of the festival
to taunt them.

2Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 4

Dad loves Setsubun though. He volunteers at Kantaʼs old nursery, dressing up in a red onesie so he looks likeone of the oni on TV. When other villagers dress up as oni for Setsubun they wear a mask, but of course
Dad doesnʼt need it. The children throw fake beans, made of paper, at him. In the end, Dad pretends he is so hurtthat he promises never to be evil again and they all sit down together to eat ehomaki sushi.
Kanta canʼt understand why Dad wants to be persecuted like this, but it was good fun to throw fake beans at him,so Kanta didnʼt mind when he was at the nursery. Marumi had hated it and she never joined in, apparently. She thought
it was so undignified. Dad says itʼs important community work which builds bridges between the oni and the villagers.
Itʼs true that the volunteering has made Kantaʼs dad popular among mothers in the village; Mum is not very happy
about this.

3

Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 5

Kantaʼs family have been in this little village at the foot of a big mountain for a long time. There were more oni here
in the past. In fact, a long, long time ago there were only oni. When the humans arrived, they took over everything,built fences and claimed the land was theirs. Oni didnʼt know how to build fences and were not very well preparedbecause they believed in sharing the land. Some oni moved inside the mountain to live. The humans felt guilty
and were so scared of revenge that they began to feel that the oni in the mountain were dangerous when they were not.
Thatʼs how oni got a bad reputation.
Kanta learned this history from his grandmas and grandpas, the school in their village doesnʼt teach it. Even so,
Kanta loves school. Nobody at school takes much notice of the fact that he is an oni. Now and then some kids ask him
to open their crisp packets with his canine teeth, or hang their bags from his horns while theyʼre playing,but most of the time they seem to forget that he is different.

4Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 6

That is, until Saki arrived...
Saki joined Kantaʼs class at the beginning of winter term. She and her family were newcomers to the village. It was rare
to have a new student and the children in the school were all very excited, including Kanta. When Saki stood at the front
to be introduced by their teacher, Ms Yamamoto, Kanta thought Saki was very pretty, with her fashionable hair buns
and a confident smile on her face.
She sat in the seat Ms Yamamoto allocated to her and looked around, still smiling confidently. Then she noticed Kanta
and her expression changed. Her face filled with fear. Ms Yamamoto noticed and said to her, “Kanta is a bit different
from us, but we all love him.” Then she looked at the class and said, “Donʼt we?” She didnʼt get much response,but she just carried on teaching.

5Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 7

From the start Saki was horrible to Kanta. She refused to sit or eat next to him, or play with him at lunch. She even refused tobe his partner on a school trip. What made Kanta really sad was that his other classmates had also changed since Saki came;
one by one, they started to avoid him. Nobody asked him to open their crisp packets or hang their bags from his horns
any more. Kanta felt more and more lonely.
At first he couldnʼt understand why Saki was acting this way, then he began to realise it was because he was an oni.
Mum and Dad noticed he was unhappy, but when he told them about Saki, they shrugged their shoulders and said,“Not everyone is used to different kinds of people; we have to be patient.”
Marumi, however, was furious. She wanted to beat Saki up, but Kantaʼs parents said it would only make things worse.
They thought it was best to ignore Saki. Marumi tried to help Kanta at school as much as possible, but she was in adifferent class so it wasnʼt that easy. Kanta started to hate going to school.

6Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 8

Things got worse and worse. One day Kanta found a dead frog in his bag. He screamed and when he dropped his bag,the frogʼs body flew out. Saki triumphantly said, “I thought oni like to eat that kind of thing. I was trying to be generous!”
Everybody laughed and Kanta started to cry. Marumi rushed over to comfort him. She stared at Saki and asked
harshly, “What is the matter with you?” Saki didnʼt say anything, but Marumi glared at her. Finally she said,“Who are you?” Saki hesitated. She looked away. Then she composed herself and walked away arrogantly, without looking
back. The others followed.
It was almost the end of January and Setsubun was getting closer. Kanta was always a little anxious about Setsubun,
but this year was worse - he dreaded what Saki might do. He hated being an oni. When he told Marumi how he felt
she looked at him and said, “Donʼt worry, youʼre a strong oni boy. Thereʼs something strange about Saki and Iʼm going tofind out what. Just hold on.” She sounded very determined.

7

Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 9

Kanta didnʼt know what Marumi meant, but for the next few days she seemed very busy and often came home latefrom school. She told Mum she was researching something important, so he thought it must be a school project.
Then one day just before Setsubun, Ms Yamamoto came into the classroom and announced they were going tohave a special history lesson. Marumi and her friends were stood at the front and when Marumi opened the schoolʼs
big old kamishibai frame there was a burst of grand music from the melodica and the drum. The story began;
it was the history of oni which Kanta had heard from his grandmas and grandpas! It was a tremendous performance and,seeing his classmates engrossed in the story, Kanta started to feel proud of Marumi and also his oni heritage.
But one person was not pleased. Saki looked increasingly uncomfortable during the performance, in contrast tothe amused faces all around her. While all the other kids were laughing and enjoying themselves, her face was twisted ina dark expression.

8Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 10

Finally she stood up. She shouted, “Stop! Itʼs all a lie! Oni are evil. Youʼre just making stuff up! You canʼt fool us!”
She looked around for support, but nobody responded.
Then she looked at Kanta fiercely. He felt the same fear he always had when Saki looked at him, but when he glanced
at Marumi he could almost hear her saying, “You are a strong oni boy.” Kanta gathered his courage. He stood up and said,“Youʼre wrong. Just because weʼre oni, doesnʼt mean weʼre bad.”
Sakiʼs face turned red with fury. She jumped out of her seat and ran to attack Kanta. He scrambled to get up, but in hispanic he stumbled and started to fall backwards. Trying to regain his balance, he stuck both his arms out in front of himand grabbed the two buns on Sakiʼs head, which came loose. When Saki realised what was happening she tried to put
her hair back, but it was too late. When Kanta released his hands everybody saw them - two little horns sticking out.
Saki ran towards the door, but Marumiʼs friends were blocking the entrance. Saki burst into tears and collapsed onto
the floor. Marumi came over and crouched beside her. “We knew. Itʼs ok.” she said gently.

9Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 11

After school, Ms Yamamoto, Marumi and Kanta took Saki back home. Her parents were very welcoming andthey all had tea and cake. Saki didnʼt eat or say anything, but she didnʼt leave the room either. Now and then,Marumi smiled at her showing her shining canine teeth. At first Saki quickly looked away, but Kanta noticed herlooking for longer each time.
It turned out that Saki had been adopted when she was a tiny baby. Her parents hadnʼt realised she was an oni until
she started to grow horns and teeth. They were surprised, but still they loved her dearly. However, Saki just wanted tobe the same as all the other girls. To make her feel better, her parents got dentists to shorten her canine teeth, but theycouldnʼt do anything about the horns; it was dangerous to operate on them.
Saki hated being an oni and grew to hate all oni. Her parents thought moving to Kantaʼs village might help;
Saki might become more at ease with herself if she got to know other oni and made friends.

10Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 12

When they were leaving, Marumi told Saki, “Tomorrow is Setsubun and my Dad will be doing his famous Setsubun
performance at our old nursery. Itʼs good fun. Would you like to come and watch it with us?” Sakiʼs parents
were delighted and urged her to go. Saki didnʼt say anything but she looked at Marumi. Kanta thought he saw
a little nod.
On the way back home, Kanta said to Marumi, “I thought you hated Dad doing that at the nursery. You said
it was so undignified.”
Marumi looked at Kanta wickedly and said, “Itʼs community work. I will sacrifice my personal feelings in orderto build bridges. Besides, after my performance at school I realised acting is really good fun. Maybe Iʼll join
Dad next year!” And they both laughed heartily, showing all their shining canine teeth.

11Onikko
Story by Kazuko Hohki
Illustrations by Aya Burbanks

story text for card 1

Kanta is an oni. It means he has two horns and long canine teeth.
And heʼs evil.
Hang on! Well yes, he does have two short horns on top of this head, and I suppose his canine teeth are rather long...butis he evil? Okay, he knows oni have a bad reputation, and he has seen oni doing evil things when watching cartoons onTV. But then again, heʼs seen many evil things on the news and those were done by humans, not oni.
So, Kanta has been wondering if itʼs really true that heʼs evil. This question has been bothering him for a long time.

About the festival

The Japanese words in this story are:Setsubun literally means ʻdivision of the seasonsʼ and therefore the Setsubun

Setsubun: a Japanese festival celebrated in February

Festival marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring according to the oldlunar calendar. Itʼs celebrated in Japan in early February (usually February 3, but
occasionally on February 2 or 4).
One of the most common traditions associated with Setsubun is bean throwing,
called mamemaki in Japanese. During mamemaki, dried soya beans are thrown at
someone dressed up as an oni as a symbolic (and fun!) way of driving away bad luck.

12Oni: a creature from old Japanese folklore, oftentranslated as demon, ogre, or troll. The story title meansʻoni childʼ.
Ehomaki: a long and thick sushi roll, eaten for good luck
during Setsubun
Kamishibai: a traditional form of storytelling usinglarge picture cards