Paper Crossing - Kamiwatari

...The number of events increased as it was passed down to the spectacles and street performances of the early modern period. There were many types of "crossing" tricks, such as "tightrope walking," "ranstake walking," "sword blade walking," "paper walking" where one walks on thin paper, "umbrella walking" where one walks on an open janome umbrella, and "shoji walking" where one walks on top of shoji screens set up about 60 cm apart and kicks down the screens behind one after another. The heyday of this art form was in the 1850s at the end of the Edo period, when spectators were astonished by amazing feats such as "curved riding," "powerful maneuvering," "curved hold," and "curved top."

*Some of the terminology that refers to "kamiwatari" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…近世の見世物，大道芸に受け継がれて種目もふえる。〈綱渡り〉〈乱杭渡り〉〈剣の刃渡り〉，薄い紙の上を渡る〈紙渡り〉，開いた蛇の目傘の上を渡る〈傘渡り〉，60cmあまりの間隔で立ててある障子の上をかけ渡り次々と後ろの障子を蹴倒していく〈障子渡り〉など，〈渡る〉という芸一つにも多くの種類があった。幕末の1850年代がこの芸能の全盛期で，〈曲乗り〉〈力持（ちからもち）〉〈曲持（きよくもち）〉〈曲独楽（きよくごま）〉などの離れわざは見物人を驚かせた。…

※「紙渡り」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報