Japanese-style storytelling for children, ‘kōen dowa’, was a popular form of amusement from the 1910s to the 1940s. However, before the 1920s, kōen dowa was not made available to teachers because of vulgarities contained in the tales. The aim of this study is to reveal why kōen dowa came to be used in the classroom by the end of the 1920s. The study analyses four documents, as recorded by an early-career teacher, about the storytelling exploits of KURUSIMA Takehiko, who was the most popular kōen dowa performer at the time.
From the teacher’s documents, the following effective teaching strategies were identified:
(1) gestures and body language;
(2) drama techniques -a) vocal dynamics, b) facial expressions;
(3) verbal techniques -a) vocabularies, b) skits, c) onomatopoeia.
The results of the analysis indicate that the teacher was eager to learn about methods of telling stories to children in a style worthy of emulation.