Tsujimura Mizuki Participates in Japan Foundation Jakarta Programs
#AuthorEvent#JF JakartaWriter Tsujimura Mizuki was invited to visit Indonesia February 6 to 14, 2026 by the Japan Foundation, Jakarta, one of the Japan Foundation’s overseas offices. She will participate in exchanges with junior and senior high school students studying Japanese in the two cities of Jakarta and Lombok and give talks on reading in both locations.
Via Instagram, the Japan Foundation Jakarta held a book review contest for junior and senior high school students in Indonesia. When the contest was held for the first time in 2025, there were 217 entries from approximately 100 schools. In 2026, the project greatly expanded in scale, with over 1,000 entries submitted from 578 schools in 34 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces.

© Naoto OTSUBO
On February 7, the Japan Foundation Jakarta will host Tsujimura for a talk event held in conjunction with the awards ceremony for the competition. The event will be held in both in-person and online formats so as to enable participation from all provinces across the country.
Details about the lecture and Tsujimura’s visit will be available in a travelogue article to be posted at the Japan Foundation’s Bookmark_JF site at a later date.
This project was made possible with the kind cooperation of Poplar Publishing Co.
For the book reviews submitted by students participating in the contest, search Instagram: #kombalasjf2025.

Major JF Events with Tsujimura Mizuki in Indonesia
Writers in Conversation, Indonesia (Jakarta)
Speakers: Tsujimura Mizuki, Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie
Overview: Writer Tsujimura Mizuki and popular Indonesian author Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie, who is known for depicting weighty social themes alongside charming illustrations in fantasy novels centered on child protagonists, will share their perspectives on children and young people through their works in their home countries during this discussion.
Lonely Castle in the Mirror Secondary School Book Review Contest Awards Ceremony (Jakarta)
Participants: Book review contest participants
Overview: This awards ceremony honors the winners of the Lonely Castle in the Mirror Secondary School Book Review Contest, held on September 2025, with participation from over 1,000 students across 550 schools throughout Indonesia. Three outstanding entries will be recognized in both the individual and group categories.
Visit to Japanese Partners Dispatch School, Student Exchange Event (Lombok Island)
Overview: Since 2014, the Japan Foundation has implemented the NIHONGO Partners Program, dispatching Japanese nationals to assist Japanese language teachers at junior and senior high schools in ASEAN countries. These partners support Japanese language lessons and introduce Japanese culture. On this occasion, writer Tsujimura Mizuki visited SMK Negeri 4 Mataram, one of the Japanese Partners dispatch schools on Lombok Island. She talked with Japanese language learners and observed the environment of an Indonesian high school.
Talk Event (Lombok Island)
Speaker: Tsujimura Mizuki
Moderator: Dwi Aditya Darmawan
Overview: On Lombok Island, Tsujimura Mizuki will speak to a general audience of readers about her books that have been translated into Indonesian: Kastel Terpencil Didalam Cermin (Lonely Castle in the Mirror), A School Frozen in Time (A School Frozen in Time), Pulau Sae (The Island Stays With Us), and Yamihara (Darkness Sweep). She also engaged in exchanges with the audience.