Every time we get a chance to venture off the rock, Alex and I try to fit something literary into our sight-seeing schedule. During our recent trip to Japan it was quite fun to explore a few bookstores, but we serendipitously stumbled upon a little gem while walking in Ueno.
Across the side street next to the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park, there’s the International Library of Children’s Literature (ILCL)! Built originally as the Imperial Library in 1906, the building is gorgeous with an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary architecture. They have an amazing library and resource hall dedicated to the research and study of children’s literature around the world. There are reading rooms and interactive media zones set up specifically for kids– like the “Meet the World” room where kids can explore books and other materials on the geography, history and folklore of hundreds of countries.
Plus, there’s a museum and it’s FREE! The current exhibit “Children’s Books Going Overseas From Japan” features examples of different Japanese books, characters and stories that have traveled the world. There were numerous display cases of books like Momotaro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and many more showing how they were different in Korean, Chinese, French, English, etc. It was interesting to see how the characters and words changed in each country’s version, sometimes drastically. I like to think that being close neighbors, Hawai’i has helped some of Japan’s most beloved books reach international audiences.
The ILCL website is even available in English where you can access the Digital Gallery of World Picture Books.
This series introduces famous picture books of Japan and the West in the period from the eighteenth century to the 1930s. Looking at the books made in different countries during this time we can see at work a ceaseless process of transmission of images that appeal universally to the hearts of children, transcending states, eras, and even the individual traits of the artists.
How jealous am I that we don’t have something this fantastic here in Hawai’i? (very) If you are an educator, parent or anyone at all interested in the evolution and importance of children’s literature I highly suggest watching some of the presentations in the digital gallery. The ILCL is a treasure that the people and children of Japan can be proud of. What a tremendous resource!
The ILCL provides various programs devoted to enhancing the reading and information-gathering environment for children’s books, based on the principle, “Children’s books link the world and open up the future.”
