KAMIKIRI

Kamikiri is the traditional improvisational art of papercutting. The performer solicits suggestions from the audience and quickly cuts a blank sheet of paper with scissors to create the suggested image or figure. Kamikiri is said to have started as a party stunt during the Edo period. Kamikiri artists possess great verbal skills because they keep talking to themselves or with the audience while cutting the paper. The finished work is usually offered as a gift to the person in the audience who gave the suggestion. Because of this rare exchange, kamikiri can engage an audience beyond words and is highly recognized and appreciated in different parts of the world, although it is not nearly as widely known as anime or manga.