About This Show
Kayoko Shiraishi returns to the Japan Society with her one-woman tour de force, 100 Stories (Hyaku Monogatari). Shiraishi draws upon Japanese folklore and contemporary literature to take the audience on a journey of suspense, terror, wisdom, and joy. This year’s all new program continues Shiraishi’s series of tales of the supernatural derived from a popular game of the Edo Period (1603-1867). In most of Japan’s folk art of the day — including pulp fiction, puppet theater, storytelling, kabuki, scroll painting, and woodblock prints — vengeful characters were among the most popular motifs. Merchants and socialites played this party game called “hyaku monogatari,” in which they lit 100 candles, blowing out one at the end of each story. After the last candle was extinguished and the room plunged into darkness, something scary was expected to happen.