One Japanese researcher has taken it upon himself to bring a traditional Indonesian art back from the brink of extinction.
Isamu Sakamoto, 62, a distinguished expert on restoring old documents, is trying to reproduce pictorial scrolls used in the Javanese art of storytelling called "Wayang beber," whose history is believed to date back to the 12th century.
In a performance of Wayang beber, a narrator unfolds a scrolled sheet of bark paper with pictures depicting each scene while recounting the tale. The art is said to have evolved and given birth to Indonesian's famous Wayang shadow puppet theater.