Word.ws English Dictionary

benshi

benshi noun: a Japanese performer who provides live narration for silent films.

Noun

benshi (plural benshi or benshis)

  1. A Japanese performer who provides live narration for silent films.
    • Silent Japanese films had explainers and narrators known as benshis, who became so popular that the Japanese commonly went to movies to see their favorite benshi rather than their favorite actor.2003 October 3, Jonathan Rosenbaum, “See the World”, in Chicago Reader
    • The film had its premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival with an orchestra, a singer (billed as a castrato), an interlocutor (a tradition derived from the Japanese art of benshi) and sound effects by Foley artists in lab coats.2007 May 7, Dennis Lim, “Newfangled Silent Movie With a Bit of Old Barnum”, in New York Times

Forms of benshi

pluralbenshi
pluralbenshis

Origin of benshi

From Japanese 弁士 (benshi).

Questions about benshi

What does benshi mean?
Benshi means a Japanese performer who provides live narration for silent films.
What part of speech is benshi?
Benshi is a noun.
What is the plural of benshi?
The plural of benshi is benshi.

Words near benshi in the dictionary

  1. benserazide
  2. Bensham
  3. benshee
  4. benshees
  5. benshengren
  6. benshi
  7. benship
  8. benshiply
  9. benshis
  10. Benshoof
  11. Benshoofs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: benshi (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “benshi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/benshi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.