Gion Festival Stories Become Picture Books

Kyoto Notre Dame University (President: Kumiko Sakai, Location: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture) is implementing a project to create children's picture books as part of its students' cultural outreach initiatives related to the Gion Festival, marking its third year. While this project initially started as an in-class production activity, this year's feature is that participants include not only enrolled students but also auditing students and graduates, working together in teams that transcend grade levels and affiliations. Leveraging the efforts of the past two years and with the help of alumni, they are working with the sentiment of "Notre Dame is here."

This time, the picture book creation is proceeding with stories that are easy for children to understand, based on the origins and traditions of the floats: Naginata-boko, Tsuki-boko, Shira-raku-tenzan, Hashi-benkei-yama, and Koi-yama. Particularly noteworthy are the Koi-yama, based on the idiom "a carp climbing a waterfall to become a dragon," and how to finish picture books for subjects like Tsuki-boko, where information about its origins is limited.

Approximately 100 copies of the completed picture books are scheduled to be distributed free of charge to institutions such as the National Diet Library, Kyoto Prefectural Library, and the preservation societies of each float.

We cordially invite members of the press to cover this story. Details about the production process and the students' initiatives can be provided during interviews.

Hand-drawn illustrationsIllustrations created on a smartphone

Illustrations before coloring - coloring will begin soonStudents creating illustrations on an iPad

[Key Points of This Matter]

1. This is a picture book creation project featuring the floats of the Gion Festival, now in its third year, and is expected to be the concluding installment of the efforts so far.

2. In addition to enrolled students, auditing students and graduates are participating, working in teams that transcend grade levels and affiliations.

3. It features five representative Gion Festival floats, including Naginata-boko and Tsuki-boko, expressing their traditions in stories that are easy for children to understand.

[Overview]

In this initiative, we are producing the picture books with an awareness of balancing historical understanding of the Gion Festival with expressions that can be conveyed to children. Faculty members organize the narrative direction based on classical texts, while students develop the specific structure and expressions.

Content: Creation of children's picture books themed around Gion Festival floats

Target Audience: Primarily upper elementary school students (with considerations for lower elementary students as well)

Floats Featured: Naginata-boko / Tsuki-boko / Shira-raku-tenzan / Hashi-benkei-yama / Koi-yama

Distribution Destinations (Planned): National Diet Library, Kyoto Prefectural Library, various float preservation societies, etc.

Number of Copies Distributed: Approximately 100 copies (planned)

This project has led to deeper interaction between students and the Hosho-yama Preservation Society, which is involved in the Gion Festival, developing into volunteer activities.

[Student Comments]

It was difficult to interpret which parts of the Gion Festival's history to focus on for the stories, as the original tales are written in classical texts. However, with the support of the faculty, I have deepened my understanding.

We are working on the production through trial and error, aiming for completion by July, before the Gion Festival begins.

[About Kyoto Notre Dame University]

Kyoto Notre Dame University was founded in 1961 with the philosophy of women's education based on Christian Catholic principles, aiming to cultivate individuals who possess both "Virtue and Knowledge (Virtus et Scientia)."

We aim to foster individuals with the ability to act based on ethics and advanced knowledge, providing education guided by the principles of "Respect, Dialogue, Empathy, and Action."