4th Exhibition
: Piyo-chan’s World Exhibition March 3, 2014 (Mon) – August 30, 2014 (Sat)
Masatoshi Iriya’s wildly popular picture book series, “Piyo-chan’s Picture Books,” is beloved by readers around the world.
Through a variety of interactive elements that can be enjoyed both digitally and analogically, this exhibition allows children to explore Piyo-chan’s world by tracing the entire space with their hands and eyes.

We created the atmosphere of a large picture book throughout the entire room. Hoping that visitors would feel as if they had stepped into Piyo-chan’s picture book, we designed the entire venue to resemble a farm. In addition to the murals, we laid down green carpets and adorned the ceiling with swallows and clouds, so that the entire space would evoke the world of a picture book. 

When you look at the wall, you’ll see that it’s designed like a pop-up book. When you flip open the
tulip, an ant pops out. When you open the box, a honeybee comes out. It’s a wall where you can play by turning things, flipping pages, and searching for animals hidden in all sorts of places.
Plus, the mural of Piyo-chan is designed so that when you press its bottom, it chirps. We’ve turned the entire space into a pop-up book.

We also displayed plush toys that children can ride on, featuring characters from picture books.

When children approach the theater, a camera captures their image and projects them into the world of the picture book on the large screen. Furthermore, when a child holds out their hand, fish and other creatures appear, allowing them to feed them, lift the characters on the screen, or place them on their heads—enjoying the experience together.The children seemed to intuitively understand what to do, and it was impressive to see them exploring how to have fun while expressing their surprise: “Look! You can touch Piyo-chan!”

■ Daily Workshops

・Piyo-chan Big Pad

You can also use a tablet’s camera to scan the coloring pages drawn by the children and send them to the digital signage display. The characters the children have colored then appear in the picture book world displayed on the digital signage. Children can then use a stylus to move the characters around.Furthermore, when you call out, “Mole-san!”, the “mole” pops out of its hole. The system is designed to recognize sounds and react accordingly. We’ve also added special effects where leaves and acorns fall from the tree on the screen when you shake the stump object.

・Piyo-chan's Flower Garden

Decorate the petals with masking tape, thread a leaf onto a straw, and arrange pieces of various colors and shapes in the center of the flower to create a single sunflower.

It’s amazing how just the way you arrange the pieces can create such rich expressions. It’s interesting to see everyone’s unique style come through. When everyone’s sunflowers come together, Piyo-chan’s sunflower field becomes even more fun and lively.

■Special Workshop

We held a special workshop titled “Transform into Piyo-chan and Piyo-chan’s Friends!” featuring author Masatoshi Iriyama as the instructor.By reshaping a single sheet of paper or a piece of fabric, we transformed them into Piyo-chan. While learning about Piyo-chan’s distinctive features and drawing tips from Mr. Iriyama, parents and children worked together to create their pieces.

Piyo-chan's Transformation!
After making the hat and cape, we filmed the transformation video.　

■Media Coverage: We were interviewed by Ehon
Navi.
Communication Plaza Dot DNP Digital Ehon Museum: Masatoshi
Iriya's "Piyo-chan's World"
Exhibition https://www.ehonnavi.net/specialcontents/contents_old.asp?id=106&pg=1

Mr. Iriyama shared the following reflection: “I’ve created many interactive picture books over the years, but the experience of stepping into the world of a picture book—a form of expression unique to digital media—made me realize just how many possibilities it holds.” I hope that after experiencing the digital version, children will revisit the picture book, leading to a deeper appreciation of the story’s world and narrative.I believe these magical experiences—such as seeing their colored-in drawings come to life or being projected onto the screen to play with the characters—will further enrich children’s creativity.