Message from the Judging Panel Chairman

Every year, I look forward to serving as a judge in this contest, which allows me to encounter excellent drawings that project children's hearts, just as they are.

And every year, I always have to marvel at the rich color and breathtaking beauty of the pictures the children paint. Their works are liberally splashed with many hues.
I see exhibitions of various types, and have the impression that paintings by adults tend to look dark, short on color, and devoid of life by comparison. They seem to reflect a society plagued with endless strife and progressive environmental destruction ― the colorless, monotone hearts of the adults.

The children's pictures have plenty of colors; green is a particular favorite. This indicates that the earth they hold in their hearts is not a desert world but a lush world where people live at harmony with a lot of animal and plant life.

From children's paintings, we can learn about genuine happiness and beautiful world for all humankind.
We adults must strive to protect the global environment and respond to the message sent by the children.

Chairman of the Judging Committee
Painter・Japan Art Academy Membership・
Professor, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
KINUTANI Koji

Intersection of Criticism and Hope

In the children's creations, we can find both criticism for the present and hope for the future.
The children are clearly saying an emphatic "No!" to the loss of life associated with habitat-destroying development and the proliferation of sterile artificial landscapes. At the same time, they clearly express hopes for the preparation of conditions where nature's bounty and the cycle of life will rebirth. Their works brilliantly portray the orientation of moving from negative to positive in the context of social linkage for the restoration and reproduction of a beautiful global environment.
In addition, to achieve this goal, their young imaginations in drawings remind us that each and every human being must cultivate a sense of oneness with nature. This can be read in one work, depicting a little girl with birds fluttering around her hair, blossoms in her eyes, baskets of flower seeds on her cheeks, and a whale (!) on her lips. What a moving expression! The drawing is brimming with an amazing sense of wonder over the union between the self and surrounding wildlife.
We can also empathize with the way that the readily understandable drawings remind us that concrete action to improve the environment in our neighborhood on the part of each and every one of us will together constitute an energy enormous enough to save the whole earth. The term "self-driven collaboration" may be applied to the pattern of sustained action to improve the environment, starting by each individual and gradually connecting with others through time. I think the drawings graphically evidence that the "self-driven collaboration" is at the base of the children's thoughts about the global environment.
As I see it, the Contest provides the function of nurturing both awareness of the global environment and the children's expression ability. It is very valuable event that is well worthy of continuation and expansion.

Professor, Aichi Sangyo University Graduate School, Architect
ENDO Yasuhiro

This year again, I had the honor of taking part in the judging for the International Environmental Children's Drawing Contest, which was the tenth in the series held by the Japan Quality Assurance Organization.
Each year, rather than judging the drawings, I feel as if I myself am being buoyed by the powerful injection of energy I receive from children around the world. The theme of this year's contest was "Let Us Keep Plant Earth Beautiful For Our Future", and itself expresses a task which all of us adults face.
This belief was reinforced by the voices of the children which seemed to issue from their drawings.
I could sense a vigor that told me the children had a distinct image of what a beautiful earth meant to them and were going to take action themselves to achieve it. That is not all; I was also moved by the fertility of their imaginations.
I was particularly glad to see that Japanese children had produced more drawings with a freewheeling flair and vivid coloring than in past years. I was also charmed by drawings which show the warm and ingenuous views to nature and wildlife.
It occurred to me that it is time for us to take another look at the very base of our society so we can enrich the children's future along with the global environment.

Visiting Researcher Environmental Affairs Communication Science
Institute Inc.
KOBAYASHI Tamae