Animated Pictograms

Fun and easy-to-understand presentation of historical culture and traditional customs that are uniquely Japanese.

  • VISIT TO TEMPLE / SHIRINE
  • BOWING
  • POUNDING RICE CAKE
  • HAILING A CAB / TAXI
  • TAKING A BATH
  • WATER ABLUTION
  • TEA CEREMONY
  • RHYTHMIC CLAPPING AT CELEBRATIONS
  • RIDING THE TRAIN
  • WINNING MOVES IN SUMŌ
  • AWA DANCE FESTIVAL
  • Coming Soon

About The Project

EXPERIENCE JAPAN PICTOGRAMS were developed to provide visual support for tourists in Japan.
For more information about the objectives and design concept of the project, please click here.

Request

If you would like us to create new PICTOGRAMS for you or have other requests, please contact us here.

KODAN

講談[KODAN]

Kodan is another form of traditional storytelling with a history of over 500 years. Unlike rakugo, whose stories consist mainly of conversations between characters, most kodan stories depict warlords or other well-known historical figures. A kodan performer sits in front of a pedestal called a shakudai and reads out stories while tapping the shakudai with a paper fan (hariogi) to keep performer’s rhythm going. Kodanbon (books containing kodan stories) became very popular during the Meiji era. Among the publishers of kodanbon was Kodansha Ltd., a major publishing company today that earned its present position with the success of kodanbon.