...or 紙芝居, literally "paper theater". It is a tradition which, with variations, goes back to the Heian Period (794-1185) but which is mostly known from the form it took from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century with wandering storytellers telling stories for children using paper images that alternate in a wooden box. Asakusa is one of the few places in Tokyo (perhaps in Japan even) where you can see kamishibai on a more or less regular basis.
(For a bigger version of this picture both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr).
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