Slideshow
The Art of the Benshi
THAT NIGHT'S WIFE
Tuesday, June 20
6:20
A live performance by master benshi Ichiro Kataoka.
♪ Live piano accompaniment from Steve Sterner.
SPECIAL ADMISSION FOR THIS EVENT: $30 non-members, $20 members.
We’re delighted to welcome back Ichiro Kataoka, one of the world’s handful of practitioners of the lost art of the Japanese benshi. From the earliest days of movies until the mid-1930s, silent films in Japan were accompanied by a live katsudo benshi (or, simply, benshi) — a unique performer acting as a narrator, actor, and storyteller. Highly expressive performers, the benshi drew as many fans as the movies themselves and are often cited as the reason Japan was slow to adopt the talking film — at least five years behind the rest of the world.
A student of the great Midori Sawato (herself a student of legendary benshi Shunsui Matsuda), Ichiro Kataoka is the best-known benshi of his generation. Ichiro-san has performed accompanied by both traditional Japanese and Western music, as well as with experimental and electronic sounds. In addition to his work as a benshi, he is a prominent Japanese voice actor for animation and video games.
We are most grateful to the Harvard Film Archive for sponsoring Mr. Kataoka's visit to the United States.
