ARIDAGAWA, Wakayama -- A town in Wakayama Prefecture famous for its mikan mandarin orange is hoping to add one more title: a town of picture books.
The town government and residents of Aridagawa, which produces the prefecture's specialty of Arida Mikan, has begun promoting picture books. The initiative has made the town's name more recognizable.
About 180 books are submitted every year from among members of the public nationwide to an annual contest of new picture books. The town hosts the contest.
Some winners in the town's contest have later debuted as professional picture book authors.
A group of 84 town residents from their teens to their 70s who call themselves Yomikikase-tai (Reading-aloud team), has visited schools and libraries to expand the base of picture book culture.
ALEC, a local exchange center in the central part of the town, is one of the core bases for promoting picture books. The awards ceremony for the annual picture book contest is held in the building, which also serves as a space for fostering members of Yomikikase-tai.
With its exterior walls covered with glass and a spacious interior, the building is also a recreational place for residents, boasting a library space, a cafe and other facilities.
A municipal facility specializing in picture books called Poppo Ehon-kan was completed in spring this year in the precincts of the building. The new facility was scheduled to open in March, but the opening was postponed to July 26 because of the coronavirus.
But ALEC manager Kazuko Sugimoto, 51, who is also an Aridagawa town government official, plans to make the new facility "a base for people to exchange through picture books."
Sugimoto was a librarian in the town's library, which was only used by a few people 20 years ago. At the time she began reading picture books aloud in front of an audience, hoping it would draw more visitors to the library.
She studied how to effectively read aloud to audiences for about half a year by attending lectures and began reading aloud with others whom she met along the way.
Her hard work paid off; more parents and their children began visiting the library.
Sugimoto branched out into presenting new picture books to visitors and holding events to which picture book authors were invited.
In April 2009, she was transferred to ALEC, which had just opened. Her boss encouraged her: "I want you to fully utilize the connections you have built."
She became the leading promoter of making the town famous for picture books and related affairs.
The picture book contest started in 2011. The annual contest has been praised for its quality, with popular authors serving as judges and the range of applicants being so wide that anybody can apply. Today, the contest has become the trademark event of the town.
A haunted house was also created to reproduce a world depicted in a ghost story picture book. The event was held in school buildings and other areas and became highly popular.
In one year, about 4,000 people visited the haunted house over only 10 days in summer.
Sugimoto launched Yomikikase-tai, comprising local volunteers, in 2018 as she thought local volunteers would be essential for solidifying the town's goals.
The Yomikikase-tai team has worked to spread the love of picture books to children.
Momoka Osako, 16, a first-year high school student, said she joined the volunteer group because "when I was an elementary school student, I read aloud to kids who were younger than me. It was such a great experience."
Eri Enomoto, 45, a nursery school teacher, said: "The skills I learn [from Yomikikase-tai's work] can help me with my job. Because elderly people also enjoy it, it all feels rewarding to me."
In 2018, the town was given a written language culture promotion award by a public interest foundation in Tokyo for their work promoting picture books.
The town's presence has been rising, with more and more officials from other local governments visiting the town to see how they do it.
"When Poppo Ehon-kan opens, I want to develop the potential of picture books even more than now," Sugimoto said.
There are more and more video clips for reading books aloud that are distributed by celebrities and companies so that parents and their children can enjoy listening to them while refraining from going out during the spread of the coronavirus.
HoriPro Inc., a company that manages artists and entertainers, is distributing video clips in which actors and singers read old folk stories aloud on YouTube. The celebrities include Haruka Ayase and Tatsuya Fujiwara.
The company has so far distributed 30 such video clips, with more than 500,000 views for them.
On the other hand, there are cases of copyright infringement as such video clips can be distributed online without permission from picture book authors and publishing companies.
This has prompted some publishing companies -- including Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers Inc., which publishes "Guri and Gura," and Bronze Publishing Inc., which publishes the "Darumasan" series -- to issue warnings on their websites against such unauthorized online distribution.
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