Political talk - Seijikodan

Japanese: 政治講談 - せいじこうだん

As speeches, the main form of publicity for the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, became difficult to carry out due to the increasing number of speakers being banned from speaking for certain periods, civil rights activists who were prevented from speaking came up with the idea of political storytelling as a form of alternative speeches that could perform the same function. Its creation was stimulated by the enthusiastic efforts of Matsubayashi Hakuen and others, who came up with one innovative approach after another, including the founding of "newspaper storytelling," in which important newspaper articles were read in the grounds of Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo, and the fact that storytelling was prospering as entertainment for the masses.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

自由民権運動の主要な宣伝活動の形態である演説会が，一定期間演説禁止処分をこうむる弁士の続出により困難になったため，口の動きを封じられた民権活動家が，演説に代り，それと同じ機能を果たすものとして案出したのが政治講談である。その誕生には東京浅草寺境内で新聞の重要記事を読んだ〈新聞講談〉の創始をはじめ新機軸を次々に打ち出した松林伯円（しようりんはくえん）らの意欲的な試みにより，講談が民衆娯楽として大盛況を呈していることが刺激となっていた。

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

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