Japan
FUMIKO KUWATA, PRESIDENT, JAPAN ASSOCIATION OF THE SACRED HEART (JASH)
I would like to report that Her Majesty Empress Michiko, an alumna of the Sacred Heart in Japan, made a videotaped keynote speech for an international congress on children's literature and this gained big public favour. It could be said that it really created a sensation.
Her Majesty had received an invitation to be the keynote speaker to the 26th Congress of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), which was held at the Ashok Hotel in New Delhi, INdia, from September 20th-24th, 1998.
IBBY is a non-profit organisation founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 1953, and an international network of people from all over the who are committed to bringing books and children together. To promote international understanding through children's books is IBBY's mission. Books give young people a wider knowledge of other countries, values and traditions and therefore help develop goodwill among nations and ultimately serve the cause of peace.
The 26th IBBY Congress sought to emphasise that children's literature is instrumental in buiding a richer personality by helping the child experience a gamut of emotions and empathise with characters. The theme of the Congress of this year was "Peace through Children's Books".
Her Majesty was unable to attend the Congress in person and the keynote address in English was delivered on videotape. The video message lasted an hour. Nearly 400 delegates participated in the Congress, including myself.
In her speech, Her Majesty talked about ther memories of childhood reading. She recalled that she received numerous benefits from the books she read with absorbing interest as a chiild. She said that books taughte her not only about "pain and sacrifice", but were also a source of great encouragement, particularly during the evacuee period of World War II.
"I think the myths and legends of any one country, while they may not be accurate, factual history, symbolise the people of that country in a strange and wonderful way", she said, stressing how India was for her the land of the Ramayana and the Jataka. "Folklore too, often conveys timeless symbolism", she added. "Reading gave me opportunities to ponder over joy and sorrow. It was through reading books, with many kinds of grief delineated in them, that I came to know how deeply other people other than myself can feel.
"Reading taught me that life is surely not a simple thing. We must recognise and face life's complexity. In person to person relations. In country to country relations too."
The Hall was silent. The audience listened to her gentle voice with absorbing interest, some even with tearful eyes.
Meanwhile the video message was transmitted also in Japanese and was simultaneously broadcast through television and radio all over japan and was greatly acclaimed by the public, as in the Congress Hall in New Delhi. Many people wished to read the text as a book, so it has been published both in Japanese and English. The book is elegantly bound with a moss-green pattern , by Mr. Mitsumasa Anno. The title is: "Building Bridges" - Reminiscences of Childhood Readings. The first edition of 40,000 copies was immediately sold out, and now the second edition is being printed.
May the peace and joy of Christmas be with you throughout the year.
Love,
Fumiko