Benshi create a script from their own interpretation of a silent film and then deliver it to an audience who simultaneously take in their performance alongside the movie itself and the live music. It is akin to watching a play, a movie, and a concert all at once. In their heyday, some 8,000 benshi were active in Japan, its colonies, and in areas with large populations of immigrants from Japan, but that number now lingers at around 15. During a press conference in Tokyo, Michael Emmerich (Professor, UCLA/Waseda University, Director of the Yanai Initiative) described the tour’s goal to provide the most impactful platform to date for large numbers of spectators to learn about and experience the captivating performances of contemporary benshi. In addition, Benshi Ichirō Kataoka, who is part of the tour, shared that introducing the culture of Japan’s benshi to audiences in the U.S. on a scale never achieved before will be a significant achievement of the 2024 tour.

About The Art of the Benshi 2024 World Tour

Blood Spattered Takadanobaba

The U.S. portion of the tour commences in early April in Brooklyn, New York, and then moves on to Washington D.C. Following performances in Chicago, the group then heads to Los Angeles, famous for its film industry, to perform at both the United Theater on Broadway and the Billy Wilder Theater at UCLA. The 16th and final performance brings them back to Japan in a symbolic return to the home of the original benshi.

・Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)　[NY]
・The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution　[Washington DC]
・Gene Siskel Film Center　[Chicago]
・United heater on Broadway　[LA]
・Billy Wilder Theater　[LA]
・Okuma Auditorium　[Waseda University]

Film screening

In the first half of the finale at Waseda, Kataoka, along with Kumiko Ōmori and Hideyuki Yamashiro, will perform “Not Blood Relations”, in a new digitally restored version never before screened in Japan, “The Oath of the Sword”, known as the earliest example of Asian-American cinema, and “Sweetie”, which features one of the earliest child film stars. Following a short break, the performers once again take the stage to present “Blood Spattered Takadanobaba,” in a 12-minute version that combines newly discovered fragments from the Toy Film Museum and Waseda’s own Theatre Museum, “Straightforward Boy”, which is an example of well-known filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu’s early silent film work, and “Jiraiya the Hero”, featuring Japan’s first film star Matsunosuke Onoe.

The scale of this tour is not all that makes this event unprecedented. Digital restoration technology is progressing rapidly, so the newly restored silent films being shown for the first time here are clearer than ever. Even if one is familiar with “Not Blood Relations”, the quality of the version being shown on April 26th is like none viewed in recent history in Japan. When the individual interpretations from the benshi and the live music are added to the remastered films the atmosphere is perhaps closer than ever to what audiences experienced in the early 20th century at the height of silent film. The tour, however, also sets itself apart from performances of the past. Rather than one benshi narrating a single film, all three narrators will take turns performing “Not Blood Relations” as well as “Jiraiya the Hero”, which gives the audience a chance to compare and contrast each individual benshi’s distinctive style. In sum, it is a chance to experience silent film in a brand-new format.

Benshi Ichirō Kataoka

Programs on April 26

Three Benshi's Talk Show

* 16:00-17:00　Further information will be posted soon.

The Art of the Benshi 2024 World Tour at Waseda University

* 18:00　Openning
* 18:12　“Not Blood Relations”
* 18:35　“The Oath of the Sword”
* 19:11　“Sweetie”
* 19:35 　Break
* 19:55　“Blood Spattered Takadanobaba”
* 20:12　“Straightforward Boy”
* 20:40　“Jiraiya the Hero”
* 　　　　Closing

• Film information

Benshi Ichirō Kataoka (left) and Professor Michael Emmerich (right)

Registration

“The Art of the Benshi 2024 World Tour” is organized by the Yanai Initiative, a joint program between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Waseda University for the promotion of the Japanese humanities. The April 26th finale is free to students, faculty, and the general public with subtitles provided in English. To attend, please register via the following link (available until April 21, 2024).

For more information about the event and U.S. tour dates click here.
For more information about the final performance at Waseda University’s Okuma Auditorium on April 26th click here.

LINK

• The Art of the Benshi 2024 World Tour at Waseda University