GLOSSARY (6)

akabon -- "red book"; an early form of manga named for its red covers

benshi -- live narrators who accompanied silent films

butai -- a miniature stage

chibi -- little or super deformed characters for comedic effect

denki kamishibai -- "electric paper theater," i.e., television

genbaku no ko -- children of the bomb

gesaku -- playful stories

hentai -- sexually perverted subject matter

kamishibai -- street theater using painted illustrations

kawaii -- cute

kyokan -- a group spirit formed by listening to kamishibai

maido -- French maid outfits

mukashi mukashi -- a long, long time ago

pika-don -- the atomic bomb

rori-kon -- Lolita-style

tanuki -- badger spirit

tokko -- thought police

yaoi -- a popular genre of homoerotic comics

yamato damashii -- the spirit of Japan

waraie -- giggle pix

Selected from the glossary to Manga Kamishibai, The Art of Japanese Paper Theater

by Eric P. Nash

Abrams Comic Arts, 2009