Few today, beyond fans of Japanese cinema, are familiar with the long, uniquely-Japanese tradition of the benshi -- a live film narrator who interprets the story for the audience, even speaking dialog lines in character, as the movie played. "Yajikita son'nô no maki" is a great example,
Benshi were highly-skilled professional, performing around live orchestral scores, if one existed, while taking intertitles into consideration. At some point, a benshi voiceover was added to the print foundon YouTube, giving it great historical value. Sadly, only fragments of the film survive.
Benshi has deep roots in kabuki and other Japanese theatrical traditions long before films came along, so audiences were well accustomed to off-screen narration which began in films of the 1890s and lasted well into the talking picture era of the 1930s.
Enjoy the experience of watching and listening to this silent comedy just as moviegoers did in 1927.
