For the first time since 2016, the storyteller Motoko will showcase her thoughtful personal stories and wonderous folk tales from Japan as a performer for the Storytelling Live! seasonal concert series.

“It’s an honor,” she said. “I’m super excited to be back in Jonesborough. I can’t wait to see the real audience in front of me.”

During her engagement this week, Motoko will serve as the International Storytelling Center’s teller in residence, offering matinee concert performances from Tuesday to Saturday. All in-person shows start at 2 p.m., with a new set of stories each day.

On Saturday at 10 a.m., Motoko will also host a combination workshop and performance called “Origami Adventure.” Designed especially for families, the 90-minute experience includes age-appropriate origami tutorials and stories for all, with materials provided. The cost is just $10 per person.

“I tell the kids that if you don’t use your imagination, origami is just a piece of paper,” Motoko said. “You fold it with your hands, but you also use your mind. In your imagination, it becomes a bunny or a swan or whatever. And then you use those things to help tell stories.”

The storyteller connects origami and other Japanese disciplines like haiku, tea ceremonies, and flower arrangement to the art of storytelling because of its special ability to engage the imagination. “All these forms are about seeing or feeling more than meets the eye,” she said. “You say certain things and the audience will do the rest of the work. I’ll say, ‘Once upon a time, there was an old cherry tree,’ and instead of showing a picture of a cherry tree, each audience member sees it in their mind.”

The storyteller learned origami as a child in Japan, where she grew up. (She moved to the U.S. at the age of 20; in addition to traditional stories, she plans to tell stories about her childhood in Osaka.) She learned it from older girls in her neighborhood and practiced with her friends during recess at school.

The level of engagement required for both origami and storytelling is far more active than, say, watching a movie or television, but the rewards are worth the effort. “I like to give people enjoyment, joy, and hope, especially at this time, when it’s easy to be caught in despair and fear,” Motoko said. “If I’m not giving joy and hope, then what am I doing?

“We will inspire each other and remind ourselves that, as complicated as it is, this world is worth living in. We can have fun in spite of it all.”

Tickets for Motoko’s in-person matinees are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, students, and military, and $7 for those under age 18. Online tickets are just $15 per household.

During the storyteller’s residency, one concert will be filmed and available online. Ticketholders for Motoko’s virtual performance will be available to watch from home starting Thursday, and remain accessible until the following Monday at midnight. It can be watched more than once on various devices.

Motoko appears in Jonesborough courtesy of the International Storytelling Center. The premier sponsor of Storytelling Live! is bioPURE. Additional program funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Niswonger Foundation, ETSU, East Tennessee Foundation, Humanities Tennessee, Hillhouse Creative, Carol & Bobby Frist, the Norris Family Fund, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa and the Frist Foundation. Media sponsors include the Johnson City Press, Herald & Tribune, Kingsport Times-News, Cumulus Media, News Channel 11, WJHL 11, ABC Tri-Cities and Daytime Tri-Cities.

The International Storytelling Center is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information about Storytelling Live!, including the full schedule, or to purchase tickets and season passes, visit www.storytellingcenter.net or call (800) 952-8392.

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