Digital Ehon Award

We want to see more digital picture books—ones that are loved by children all over the world—being produced. Driven by this desire, we established the Digital Picture Book Award. Last year’s judges: Picture book authors Koji Ishikawa and Yuichi Kimura; Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kadokawa Group Holdings; Rika Kayama, psychiatrist; Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Director Emeritus of the National Children’s Hospital Mr. Noboru Kobayashi, President of Digital Hollywood University Mr. Tomoyuki Sugiyama, creator and producer Mr. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and neuroscience scholar Mr. Kenichiro Mogi. We are currently accepting applications from truly exceptional judges, and we hope to pioneer and develop this new form of digital expression known as “digital picture books.”

　There are three evaluation criteria: “Fun!”, “Fresh!”, and “Far-reaching!” The unique aspect of this book award lies in its planning process. “Even if they don’t exist yet, it would be amazing to have digital picture books like these!” From the very beginning, we received over 200 submissions. All the judges were excited about this new medium known as “digital picture books”; the evaluation process was quite spirited, as everyone expressed their hope for the infinite ways it could be used to support children.

　Fast forward one year. On January 23, 2013, near Ichigaya Station, a “Digital Picture Book Museum” opened on Sotobori Street. It is located on the first floor of the basement of the new Dai Nippon Printing building. The museum, which focuses on digital picture books, may very well be the first of its kind.

　Red, blue, yellow. Large multicolored fruits all lined up. Step inside and experience hundreds of international digital picture books. A large, soft, white table. Climb on top and enjoy a large digital picture book projected all over your body. On the wall is a digital picture book version of Peter Pan. With a single wave of the magic wand, watch as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell come to life. The lights glow on the evening streets of London as the hands of Big Ben turn.

　A specially curated exhibition is held once every quarter. The inaugural exhibition is titled “tap*rap reply.” On display are various digital and analog works related to the digital picture book “tap*rap reply:”. It’s an exhibition where children can pick up, touch, and play with everything. On both large displays and the walls, children can enter the world of literary creation using the exhibit items. A literary workshop is also held every day.

　We want to create digital picture books that are loved by children all over the world. We want to bring you digital picture books that spark excitement in every child. It feels as though our reach is slowly expanding, bit by bit—perhaps even beyond Japan.

　Last year, we hosted an international fair for digital picture books. As the name implies, the event was designed not only to collect digital picture books for children from around the world but also to introduce Japanese digital picture books to the global stage. This year’s fair featured 250 works from 40 different countries.

　Moving forward, we wish to continue cultivating both the spaces and the tools “to foster an imaginative mind and a creative spirit.”