Murakami Honored | Arts and Entertainment | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Japanese author Murakami Haruki, who is perhaps best known for his novel Norwegian Wood, won the Czech Republic's Franz Kafka Award for Literature in March.

Drawing Acclaim | Arts and Entertainment | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is given annually to authors, illustrators and storytellers who help stimulate and promote interest in children's and youth literature around the world. This year, one of the two recipients was picture book author Arai Ryoji, the first Japanese to receive the prize.

Haiku - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
It's a sunny March morning, and the kids are in a Japanese-style garden, looking for signs of spring. The willow bends to a gentle breeze that carries a faint scent of daphne, while carp lie still at the bottom of the pond. A girl opens her hand to reveal a piece of tosamizuki - tiny yellow flowers that grow into a conical cluster. "I've already got an idea for a verse," she says happily.

Light Reading | Arts and Entertainment | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The genre of books known as light novels is enjoying growing popularity among readers these days. These books are increasingly part of a multimedia strategy, as plans are afoot to make a number of them into anime movies.

Light Reading | Pop Culture | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The genre of books known as light novels is enjoying growing popularity among readers these days. These books are increasingly part of a multimedia strategy, as plans are afoot to make a number of them into anime movies.

Nakao - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
A high school student from Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, became the only third person in history whose poem was read before the Emperor and the Empress for the second straight year in the New Year poetry reading ceremony, held annually at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Poetry - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
On May 26, 17-year-old Mariko Wakabayashi of Yokkaichi High School, Mie Prefecture, became Japan's first Poetry Boxing Lightweight Champion.

Book - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
"I wonder if I ought to keep living my life just like everybody else. . . . I'll definitely become famous. It's not that I want to be on television or anything, though." So begins Risa Wataya's book Install. In real life, Risa certainly did become famous when she received the Bungei Literary Award last year.

Young Writers Tell Tales from the Heart - Kids in Action - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
Two young female writers have been grabbing attention in the Japanese book world for their stories that come fron the heart. This article highlights the story of their success.

Fairy Tales - Kids in Action - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
This article introduces an autistic boy who expresses himself through the medium of fairy tales and poetry. He has won numerous awards for his moving, thought-provoking stories.

Miyuki - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
Sixteen years ago, Miyuki Inoue lost her eyesight five months after birth because of a retinal disease. Now in the tenth grade, Miyuki has written a book about how she grew up and about her gratitude to her mother for the way she was brought up.

Senryu - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
Fifth graders at Shimoseya Elementary School (site is Japanese only) in the city of Yokohama are sharpening their minds and sense of humor to become masters of senryu, a witty form of Japanese poetry. Students jot down their poems on a strip of paper and drop them into a senryu box. Their masterpieces are published regularly in class newsletters.

Science - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
Tsumura Kana recently became the first Japanese to win a prize in a prestigious international science essay contest for high school students. The competition, called the First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics, is organized by the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, and was being held for the twelfth time. Kana's essay was among the six selected for prizes out of the 116 submitted for the contest from around the world.

Love story - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
A love story written by a blind 14-year-old girl who died of cancer last year was published recently. Titled Tenji De Kaita Rabu Reta (Love Letters Written In Braille), the book is about a blind middle school girl who falls in love with a high school boy.

Mines - Monthly News - Archives - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
A sequel to the bilingual picture book "A Plea from Sunny: Not Mines, But Flowers" has been published in Japan and is receiving a great deal of attention from countries around the world for its appeal to clear land mines in war-ravaged areas, such as Cambodia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Both volumes are written in English and Japanese.

Saru Kani Kassen - Folk Legends - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
This is a Japanese folk tale, beginning: One day, a monkey carrying a persimmon seed noticed a crab with a rice ball in its claw. The monkey was very hungry, and so asked the crab to trade the rice ball for the seed.

Fostering the Will to Work | Business and Economy | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Major publishing companies have released a succession of titles aimed at teaching children about the meaning and value of employment.

Episode 7 | Three-Piece Story | Tokyo Tales | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
This is a story about mystery solving and cultural cross-pollination, as played out on a chessboard - or a shogi board or a xiangqi board. Three young people, one from China, one from the United States, and one from Japan, come together in the borderless realm of the Internet and discover a common affinity.

Episode 8 | Three-Piece Story | Tokyo Tales | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
This is a story about mystery solving and cultural cross-pollination, as played out on a chessboard - or a shogi board or a xiangqi board. Three young people, one from China, one from the United States, and one from Japan, come together in the borderless realm of the Internet and discover a common affinity.

Episode 9 | Three-Piece Story | Tokyo Tales | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
This is a story about mystery solving and cultural cross-pollination, as played out on a chessboard - or a shogi board or a xiangqi board. Three young people, one from China, one from the United States, and one from Japan, come together in the borderless realm of the Internet and discover a common affinity.