"By expressing the emotion of reading in painting, we foster children's and students' reading and expression and promote reading activity" — that is the aim of the Central Reading Impression Painting Contest hosted by the Japan School Library Association, The Mainichi Newspapers and others, held again this year. Works are now being accepted; to lift the mood, in the show win
dow in front of Mainichi Hall at the west end of the Palaceside Building first basement, ten prize-winning works from last year (the 30th contest) are on display =photos above and right. Through September 6.
The contest began in 1983 in the Kinki region, co-hosted by the Kinki School Library Liaison Council and The Mainichi Newspapers, then expanded area by area and was unified in 1989 as the Central Reading Impression Painting Contest. It is now held in 38 prefectures, excluding nine in Kyushu and Yamaguchi.
Lower elementary, upper elementary, junior high and high school each have assigned and free reading; works are invited in four divisions and eight categories. One person may submit one assigned and one free work. Entries must go through the school of enrollment; please note.
Application guidelines for this year's 31st contest are on the contest site, where forms can be downloaded (http://www.dokusyokansoubun.jp/kansouga/youkou.html). The deadline for sending works that have passed prefectural judging to the central jury is January 23, 2020; prefectural deadlines will be posted on the site soon.
Central-jury individual prizes are one Minister of Education award per division (the top prize), two excellence awards and four merit awards per division; other prefectural representative works receive encouragement awards.
On display this time, from last year's winners, are "Good girl, Ellie" by Miyu Oshima (Chie-jima Elementary, Yoshinogawa, Tokushima, grade 5), drawn after reading "The Story of Rescue Dog Ellie" (Komine Shoten) =the first painting from the front in the top photo
, "Shutter of the Heart" by Rena Iwabuchi (Miyagino High School, Miyagi, grade 3), from "To the Far North" (Mainichi Shimbun Publishing) =the second painting= — two Minister of Education awards and more. All are impressive. By our own bias, "Whale and Dolphin, a Meeting Under the Stars" by Meiko Oki (Tsurajima Nishiura Elementary, Kurashiki, Okayama, grade 5), after "A Friend Smells of the Sea" (Rironsha) =photo left= , felt especially good.
The Mainichi Shimbun plans a special page on this year's contest in late September.