Japanese Storyteller - Educator
- Author
Hiroko Fujita
NOW BOOKING
Eleventh North American tour
March - April 2006.
Concerts, Assemblies: JAPANESE FOLKLORE, FUKUSHIMA STYLE
Traditional Stories, Songs, and Games from Fukushima Prefecture
Mrs. Fujita tells country tales she learned in childhood from farmers and village elders. Professional storyteller Fran Stallings introduces each tale with a brief English synopsis; then Fujita-san tells in the traditional manner, with lively gestures and facial expressions -- in Fukushima dialect Japanese! LANGUAGE IS NO BARRIER. Even preschool children follow these tales with ease.Drawing on her large repertory and wide experience with all ages, Fujita-san tailors each concert to the appropriate developmental and interest level of the audience. She enriches her programs with traditional children’s songs and old-time games (comparable to jacks, marbles). Where time and place allow, audience members are invited to try their skill. These interactive programs have delighted audiences of all ages at American festivals, conferences, schools and libraries.
Concerts on special topics are available on request. Examples: Trickster Tales, Tales of Love & Marriage, Stories to Play With.
• Stories to Play With: Kids Tales Told with Puppets, Paper, Toys and Imagination
• Toys from Trash: Making Traditional Toys from Non-traditional Materials.
• Bi-lingual and Foreign Language Education through Stories, Games and Songs
• Traditional Japanese Children’s Songs: How to Make and Play the “Fuji-Flute”
• Passing Your Childhood Traditions Along
Detailed workshop descriptions are available.
Author Visits
Following programs, Fujita-san can sign your copy of Stories to Play With -- in Japanese,
of course! If you like, she’ll write your name in phonetic Japanese too.
Contact August House 800-284-8784 for group purchase discounts.
General information: Mrs. Hiroko Fujita grew up in mountainous rural Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, hearing traditional country tales from the village elders: animal fables, comic adventures, and stories of family life in old times. Following a university education, she worked for forty years as a kindergarten teacher and primary grade librarian in Fukushima and in Kashiwa City just east of Tokyo. Now she is much in demand to visit schools and libraries throughout Japan, where her storytelling keeps the old tales and games alive for the videogame generation. She also speaks to older students and parents’ groups about the importance of the old stories and games in preserving cultural roots, reinforcing bonds between generations, and laying groundwork for literacy. She is a master teacher, involved in training younger colleagues.Her first tour of the United States, in 1995, resulted in triumphant returns in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. During her visits to California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington DC, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas, she has addressed groups ranging from a handful of preschoolers to 300 adults -- children, educators, librarians, business executives and college students. She has led workshops and hands-on sessions with folks of all ages, as well as performing at festivals and banquets. Her poise and humor are never-failing. Children and adults alike are drawn to her warmth.
Currently: Lecturer at Kindergartner Training School, Kashiwa, Chiba-Ken, Japan. Kindergarten instructor; counselor (young handicapped children); and storyteller at libraries, schools, and kindergartens throughout Japan.
Collector & Editor of Endo Toshiko-no Katari (The Folktales of Toshiko Endo) transcribed from the telling of an elderly Japanese countrywoman, published in Japanese; co-sponsored by Japanese Folktale Society and Fukushima Folktale Society. Tokyo: Isseisha Press, 1995.
Stories to Play With(edited & adapted by Fran Stallings; August House 1999, ISBN 0-87483-553-4). This is the award-winning English edition of Ohanashi Obasan-no Kodogu (Story-Auntie’s ToolsTokyo: Isseisha Press, 1996) a handbook for beginning tellers. Each story comes with complete instructions for a toy, craft, or game to share with small children. Isseisha has also published volumes II, III and IV in this series.
Katare Yamanba (Tell Us, Mountain Woman) Vols 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, collections of her own ancient Fukushima Prefecture tales and lore. Published 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2003 in Japanese by The Young Yamanbas. English translations are in preparation.
Fran & Hiroko's Story Book Fran Stallings's stories, edited and adapted into Japanese by Fujita-san! Volumes 1 & 2 are bilingual (English and Japanese on facing pages) with English CDs available. Volume 3 is in Japanese with a separate English supplement. (Tokyo: Isseisha Press, 1999, 1999, and 2001)
Personal Born June 17, 1937. Married, 3 grown children. Residence: Kashiwa, Japan.
Fran Stallings
Oklahoma-based Fran Stallings has worked as a professional storyteller since 1978, performing and teaching nationwide. Fran met Fujita-san in 1993 and accompanies her on the U.S. tours, serving as interpreter, manager, and native guide. They have also done three reciprocal storytelling/book-signing tours of Japan featuring Fran’s stories. Three books of Fran’s world tales, edited by Fujita-san (see above), have been published in Japan.
Hiroko Fujita and Fran Stallings
received
the National Storytelling Network's
International
StoryBridges Award
at
the NSN annual conference, July 2003.
