Welcoming Four Southeast-Asian Picture-book Editors (2025.9.14–20)

The Japan Foundation (JF) is delighted to welcome four picture-book editors from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam for a week-long stay in Japan in September 2025.

When JF participated in the 62nd Bologna Children’s Book Fair in cooperation with the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY) in April 2025, we hosted “Winds from the East,” a panel discussion featuring a selection of picture books from Southeast-Asian countries. The editors who took part in that session are the same four we are now pleased to receive in Japan.

During their stay, the four will attend lectures by experts, visit children’s book publishers and bookstores, and explore libraries and museums. These experiences will not only deepen their understanding of children’s book culture in Japan, but will also allow them to exchange ideas with a wide range of professionals in the field. The program is designed to offer valuable insights that the editors may draw on in future editorial work in their respective countries.

At JF headquarters, the unique appeal of picture books from Southeast Asia will be addressed at a talk event entitled “Asian Currents—Encountering Picture Books from Southeast Asia.” The visiting editors will offer their perspectives on the status of the field in their respective countries. The event is open to the general public as well as publishing professionals.

In conjunction with this event, the exhibition Children’s Books from Around the World will feature a special display of picture books produced by the four editors’ publishing houses. It is our hope that these exchanges will lay the groundwork for future collaborative projects between Japan and Southeast Asia in the fields of children’s books and picture books.

This program was planned and carried out with the generous cooperation of picture-book critic Hiromatsu Yukiko and JBBY.