A much-needed book in Japanese art history, Ikumi Kaminishi’s Explaining Pictures: Buddhist Propaganda and Etoki Storytelling in Japan, an analysis of the performative art of “picture deciphering,” or etoki, is also essential to anyone studying the uses of images in society. Covering the gamut of disciplines from art history to ethnography to religion, Kaminishi’s book is a good attempt at interdisciplinary practice and how that practice can be used to uncover the overlays of human imagination in the use of visual images. Kaminishi explains that once etoki is understood as serving as propaganda, it will be easier to understand how the new Buddhist sects of the Kamakura period (1186–1333) became established in the field of religious practice among the general population. Throughout her book, Kaminishi argues that the etoki performer, whether male or female, is a propagator of the Buddhist faith. Pictures and text can be understood in infinite ways; but according to Kaminishi, the performer of the text and images is the wielder of power, and “strives for a uniform reception from an audience” (10). While it can occasionally be difficult to accept such overarching statements, Kaminishi’s inclusion of observations of contemporary examples of picture deciphering (practitioners of which...