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Column[Vietnam] "MOGU Picture Book Project" to bring good books and reading habit to Vietnam
- Release date: Jul 09, 2020
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Three years after the start of the program, we also trained a picture book author who received a commendation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Launched in 2017 with the aim of promoting quality books and reading habits in Vietnam, as well as nurturing picture book creators, the “MOGU Picture Book Project” received the Minister for Foreign Affairs Commendation just three years after its inception.
The project is run by MORE Production Vietnam, a production company jointly founded by a Japanese woman and a Vietnamese woman. To date, they have translated and published 46 titles, releasing two to three books per month, including Japanese picture books and the Vietnamese edition of “Building Bridges: Memories of Childhood Reading,” a book compiling lectures by Empress Emerita Michiko.
To ensure that as many children as possible can enjoy picture books, the titles—produced and sold with sponsorship support from companies—are priced affordably at 25,000–39,000 VND per copy (approximately 117–183 yen). In addition, a portion of each print run is donated to children in remote areas.
Since 2018, the project has also partnered with the JXTG Group to hold the “JXTG × MOGU Children’s Story Contest,” an open call for original fairy tales, and has organized lectures and events featuring Japanese picture book authors.
Vietnam’s average annual reading volume is 0.8 books per person, reflecting a lack of habitual reading.
In Vietnam, where wars continued until relatively recent times, a culture of reading has not taken firm root. Because the idea of reading as a means of acquiring knowledge is relatively weak, Vietnam’s average annual number of books read per person is extremely low at 0.8 books, according to a 2015 survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Before the project began, the Vietnamese female founder translated picture books that she had purchased during business trips to Japan and read them to her own children. She later expanded these read-aloud activities to local children as part of her company’s social contribution efforts. The project itself was launched after she received words of encouragement for these reading activities from Empress Michiko (as she was then) during her visit to Vietnam in 2017.
Since then, a variety of companies that support initiatives aimed at nurturing the imagination of the next generation have come on board as sponsors, allowing the activities to expand.
This article is co-authored by TNC Lifestyle Researcher (http://lifestyle.tenace.co.jp/) and INTAGE's Global Researcher.
Translated with AI Translator-
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TNC ASIA Trend Lab
TNC ASIA Trend Lab is an information organization run by TNC Inc. that researches and shares trends in Asia. It supports corporate marketing activities by finding insights from trends rooted in the lifestyles and habits of local consumers. http://tnc-trend.jp/
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Intage Inc.
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