Kamishibai: an intangible cultural heritage of Japanese culture and its application in Infant Education.

Abstract

In the field of art education, it is imperative to use new and innovative methods to study visual culture, and to adopt multicultural and intercultural approaches to interpret art in different cultures. It is interesting to study the way in which the intertextual method (the interrelationship between texts, whether written, oral, past or present; the implicit or explicit connection between a set of texts forming a context which conditions the understanding and development of the discourse) can be employed to interpret art from a western or eastern perspective. The kamishibai art form should be integrated into pre-school and elementary school curricula to promote reading. This proposal goes beyond simply understanding a text with images. The focus is on how a text can be performed theatrically and involve the participation and interaction of children as protagonists in the process. We start by introducing the concept of kamishibai, including its origins and different stages of evolution throughout history until the present day. Then, we discuss the potential new roles that contemporary kamishibai could assume in the educational context. Finally, we present an educational proposal to promote its use in early childhood education. We consider that the development of artistic interpretation, the potential value of a text when performed theatrically facilitates the introduction of multiculturalism to children.