The second Week of Ehon Book has put hundreds of Japanese books in original version and many translated versions, on display. Photos courtesy of the organisation board

A Week of the Ehon Book has been taking place in Hà Nội at the Embassy of Japan to introduce the delight of Japanese picture books to local readers. 

Initially, ehon, were specifically paintings drawn in woodblock prints published in the Edo and Meiji period. Now, ehon are the overall term for picture books with stories made to enchant children.

The week includes a series of book introductions and reading activities for children and parents. 

"It is great to be organising the week at the Embassy," said Kamitani Naoko, First Secretary, Head of the Press and Culture Department, Embassy of Japan to Vietnam at the opening ceremony. 

"The ehon book experience will open up a new and interesting world nurturing childrens' already vivid imaginations."

The ehon book has become familiar to Vietnamese children thanks to the Bắc Cầu Fund. The fund first organised a Week of Ehon in 2023, with a series of events with this year based around the theme animals. 

One of the most popular picture books in Japan is the book Gư-ri and Gư-ra by Rieko Nakagawa and Yuriko Omura, about two field mice, Guri who wears blue clothes and Gura who is in red. The characters Guri and Gura were created in the nursery tale Tamago, which appeared in the June 1963 issue of the magazine Haha no tomo.

For over 40 years since its publication, the Guri and Gura series has been reprinted many times, selling more than four million copies. The first translated edition of Guri and Gura was published in the United Kingdom in 1966.

To date, the book has been translated into English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Khmer, Danish, French, Dutch, Esperanto and Việtnamese. 

Another book is Friends and Chuyến Bay Hạnh Phúc (Happy Flight). Friends was written by Japanese Aihara Hiroyuki, who published more than 100 ehon books and is illustrated by Vietnamese painter Vũ Thủy Ngọc Hà. The book, a project by Hà Nội-based Kim Đồng Publishing House, was released in both Vietnamese and Japanese in 2020.

"I hope that from now on, every year there will be a week like this so that many children have the opportunity to enjoy these books," said Lê Thị Thu Hiền, founder of the Bắc Cầu Fund. 

Lê Thị Thu Hiền, founder of Bắc Cầu Fund introduces an ehon book at the press conference.

"This is also a way to spread awareness so that everyone knows and the whole society cares about reading books to children from a young age."

Building a reading generation requires a lot of time, effort, persistence and consensus of society. Therefore, reading books to children from an early age is necessary. This is also the goal of the Week of Ehon Book, Hiền added.

Over the week hundreds of books will be on display, both Japanese and Vietnamese versions.

All of them have been selected by the International Book Council for Children in Việt Nam, ensuring diversity in content, age and richness in illustrations.

Ehon are not only for children who can read, but also those who have not yet learnt to, helping them feel world through pictures and stories told by adults.

Parents coming to the exhibition will have the opportunity to experience reading with their children, with an accompanying book fair at Melia Hà Nội from 2.30pm to 4pm on October 20.  

The ehon display will be open from 9am to 5pm at 1 Vạn Phúc Street, Hà Nội. VNS