Benshi: Silent Film Narrators in Japan
Benshi: Silent Film Narrators in Japan is a growing digital archive that features a curated collection of historical materials relating to benshi performance and fan culture from their beginnings in the early decades of the twentieth century up to the present. It includes synchronized audio and video clips of historical and contemporary benshi, VR movie theaters, and a digitized collection of ephemera such as theater programs, benshi scripts, and fan ranking charts.| Project Title | Benshi: Silent Film Narrators in Japan |
| Description | Benshi: Silent Film Narrators in Japan is a growing digital archive that features a curated collection of historical materials relating to benshi performance and fan culture from their beginnings in the early decades of the twentieth century up to the present. It includes synchronized audio and video clips of historical and contemporary benshi, VR movie theaters, and a digitized collection of ephemera such as theater programs, benshi scripts, and fan ranking charts. |
| Deliverables | Digital Archive |
| Date | 2010 - Present |
| Project Lead | Kyoko Omori, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures (Japanese) |
| Collaborators |
Shay Foley, Director of Resource and Digital Strategies |
| Students | Alex Axton '24 Philip Chivily '23 Anthony Hevia '24 Khuslen Tulga '23 Maheen Masoud '25 Ravena Pernanand '21 Nandini Subramaniam '22 Tyler Rodenberger '25 Liam Garcia-Quish '23 |
| Departments and Offices | East Asian Languages and Literatures Library & Information Technology Services |
