Fujita-san, Japanese Storyteller

Right after learning that our grant had been awarded, we contacted members of the Sister Cities Council with the good news.  The award letter just so happened to arrive the Wednesday before Mrs. Hiroko Fujita was scheduled for a visit, and council members were quick to invite us to hear her storytelling presentation set for that coming Sunday.  Diana and I made plans to attend.  Johnnie wasn't going to be able to make it to Stillwater that day, but we were able to use Skype so that she could join us virtually!

Mrs. Fujita had visited our city many times since 1995, and she has quite a fan club!  She shares traditional Japanese folktales using props such as puppets made from gloves, paper crafts, and picture cards.  Her companion, Mrs. Fran Stallings, summarizes the story in English first, and then Mrs. Fujita tells the story in Japanese while using her props and pantomime.  There were many in attendance, at least 150, and it was a fun hour of storytelling!

In addition to the public storytelling, Nancy Simpson also invited the three of us to her home for dinner the following evening.  It was a much smaller group of people, many former teachers who had traveled to Japan together.  We enjoyed a lovely meal and more storytelling.  Mrs. Fujita also spoke about the tsunami and the on-going recovery efforts.

Read more about Mrs. Fujita and Mrs. Stallings here (Fran Stallings: Storyteller) and see the books they've completed together here (Publications).