Children and their parents looked excited and entertained as they listened to Yoko Takafuji at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta.

The audience listened attentively as the Japanese woman related a story using the traditional Japanese storytelling art of Kamishibai during the Indonesian Children’s Visual Art Festival on Thursday.

Kami means paper and shibai means play or theater, so Kamishibai uses pictures on paper to accompany the words of the storyteller, like Wayang Beber in Indonesia.

Kamishibai uses a set of pictures inserted into a wooden frame and taken out one by one as the story goes on.

During the play, Yoko was accompanied by Indonesian storyteller Agus Nur Amal, also known as PM Toh. They combined Kamishibai with the traditional Acehnese rapai instrument.

They told a Japanese story titled “Smong” or tsunami, which was written in the 1930s. Since then, it has been told on a daily basis to entertain audiences using pictures, so it will be easily remembered.

Smong is a boy who was born during a tsunami. In search of higher ground following an earthquake, villagers ran for their lives up a hill.

After a few minutes, they saw many fish stranded on the beach as the water suddenly receded far from the shore, but they did not move an inch, as they remembered the story of Smong passed down by their ancestors. They started to scream “Smong” to warn other villagers not to go down and pick up the fish, because a powerful wave would come.

Japanese people surviving tsunamis or other disasters in the past would use poetry to share their experience with their children and grandchildren as a lullaby every day. As time went by, the words of the stories were complemented with pictures.

“I am inspired to help and share my knowledge [about tsunamis] using Kamishibai. I collaborated with Indonesian storyteller PM Toh after the tragic tsunami hit Aceh to attract the audience and introduce Kamishibai,” she said.

“I have been doing this since 2014, and I have gone to Aceh and Nias, too, and realized that the disaster management knowledge in Indonesia is still low and they have no idea what to do when it happens. I need to collaborate with companies or foundations to support Kamishibai, such as the Japan Foundation or Japan International Cooperation Agency [JICA],” said Yoko.

Yoko also presented other stories about tsunamis and how the people managed to save their lives. While telling the stories, Yoko took out the pictures one by one from the board. Meanwhile, PM Toh told the story with a unique rapai melody, capturing the attention of the entire audience.

“This is my first time, and this is definitely very interesting. Using a melody and unique Indonesian music while telling stories has never been this entertaining. Looking at the enthusiasm of the children along with their parents here, I think this method can be used by teachers at kindergarten or elementary school,” said Yuri, a college student.

“I really hope this event will be held in many cities, since Indonesia lies on the ‘Ring of Fire’. Looking at the disaster management in Japan, children and adults in Indonesia need to learn and acquire knowledge about disaster management. The government needs to make a policy about disaster management and education in Indonesia,” said Laila, another college student.

After the story was told, Yoko explained disaster management in Japan, who to prepare and what to do when a disaster happens in Indonesia, since basic knowledge and preparation could save lives.

“This event was very good with its message and basic knowledge about disaster management. Using this method, I believe children will be more interested and will easily understand the material. I hope there will be disaster simulations. I realize that preparation and knowledge about disasters are a must, so that we can minimize victims and losses,” said Ifa, a mother.

“In my experience from visiting many schools, I think it is easier for children [than for adults] to receive new knowledge. They also help spread their knowledge in their families at home and they in turn will spread it in their neighborhoods and communities through many daily activities,” added Yoko.

Yoko was pleased to see the response from the children and adults who had come to the event and said she planned to go to Palu, Central Sulawesi and Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

She also planned to turn the story of ‘‘Smong’’ into a digital story to make it accessible for more people and to preserve the traditional art of Kamishibai.

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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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