Talk to Gaijin - 外人に聞いてみよう

How I won a Picture book writing contest in Japan

Children's literaturecreate a picture book, picture book author, picture book research, picture book writing contestLeave a Comment

Today, I’m thrilled to announce that I won an incentive prize at the 10th Picture Book Contest in Japan. This was my first time entering a picture book-creating contest, and I feel incredibly lucky that the jury recognized my manuscript as publication material. Based on my experience, let me share with you what it takes ... Read More

November must-buy in Japan

TravellingLeave a Comment

To have a merry little Christmas Once upon a time I came to Japan. Having a 100% foreigner mindset I waited for December to discover that the essential Christmas must-haves have long been sold. If you’re a foreigner living in Japan and planning to celebrate Christmas, it’s important to keep in mind that the essential ... Read More

Picture books for 0-years-old

Children's literature, ResearchLeave a Comment

An insight from a Japanese researcher In this entry, I’ll resort to a viewpoint expressed by Toshiyuki Shiomi, a Japanese author of pediatric literature. The field of psychology dedicated to the study of infants, specifically those aged 0 to 1, has only recently emerged as a topic of research. This is due to the fact ... Read More

Kirie – Japanese traditional paper cutting and picture books

Foreign cultureLeave a Comment

These days I find myself wondering how pictures in a picture book are made. People draw them, yes. But how do they create such a cohesive story with their pictures? The most conventional way of creating pictures is drawing them by hand. Nonetheless, Pictures in picture books are created with various tools: In addition, there ... Read More

A Research Field Was Born

Children's literature, ResearchLeave a Comment

Today (Aug 26th) marks the birthday of Children’s Literature Translation Studies as a field, which was established in 1976 at the 3rd Congress of IRCL, titled “Problems of Translation in the Field of Literature for Children and Young People.” At the congress, Children’s Literature scholars and translators gathered in Sweden and agreed on the importance ... Read More