Nissan announces winners of children’s book competition

 2022/03/04

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the winners of the 38th Nissan Children's Storybook and Picture Book Grand Prix, organized by the International Institute for Children's Literature, Osaka.

Marina Yabuguchi won the Storybook Grand Prize for “Kibako no Cho” (“A Butterfly in a Wooden Box”). Reiko Hosokawa won the Picture Book Grand Prize for “Mikan Kyodai no Tanken” (“The Mandarin Brothers’ Expedition”).

The competition, part of Nissan’s corporate citizenship activities, attracted 2,110 entries from amateur authors and illustrators.

“Kibako no Cho” is the story of a boy who finds a butterfly wing in his father’s room and draws dozens of butterflies. The picture then comes to life with the wing and butterflies soaring through the night sky. The evocative descriptions of each scene can be vividly imagined and the story’s use of onomatopoeia won high praise.

"Mikan Kyodai no Tanken" is the tale of a bag of mandarin brothers on a supermarket shelf who decide to explore their store. The book’s detailed drawings of the supermarket’s products, product labels and point-of-purchase advertisements were highly rated.

In addition, three storybooks and three picture books won special prizes, and 20 storybooks and 10 picture books won prizes for excellence. The Grand Prize-winning books will be published in December by BL Publishing Co., Ltd.

The competition is hosted by the International Institute for Children's Literature, Osaka, with the aim of developing children’s imagination and creativity. It was launched in 1984 to commemorate the opening of the institute. Nissan has sponsored and supported the competition since the beginning.

The competition also gives talented amateur authors and illustrators an opportunity to have their works published. More than 124,000 entries have been received since the start of the program and 69 books have been published.

Over the past 38 years, Nissan has donated more than 270,000 books to libraries and childcare facilities across Japan, as well as to Japanese schools and Japanese language schools overseas.