Awards Ceremony for the 36th Central Contest for Book Report Drawings (February 2025)

The awards ceremony for the 36th Central Contest for Book Report Drawings,* organized by the Japan School Library Association and The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd., was held on February 28, 2025, at Josuikaikan Hall in Chiyoda City, Tokyo.

The Central Contest for Book Report Drawings encourages children to express their impressions of books through drawing. The TOPPAN Group has cosponsored the contest for several years and engages in a wide range of activities to support it, such as presenting reproductions of famous Japanese-style paintings produced with TOPPAN printing technologies and providing tours of the Printing Museum, Tokyo.

In fiscal 2024, the 36th contest saw participation from a total of 5,062 elementary, junior high, and high schools in regions throughout Japan. From a total of 578,651 entries, the judges recognized four with Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology awards, eight with awards for distinction, and 16 with awards for excellence. Other entries received TOPPAN awards, honorable mentions, and encouragement awards.

The awards ceremony featured an announcement of the results and a congratulatory message from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. It also included a speech on behalf of the award winners and congratulations from the TOPPAN Group’s Hideo Okumura, Executive Officer of the Personnel & Labor Relations Division. The ceremony was followed by a tour of the Printing Museum for a group of 34 ceremony attendees, including prize winners. Participants in the tour were able to get an insight into the history of printing by seeing artifacts such as one of the Hyakumanto Darani (One Million Pagodas and Dharani Prayers), thought to be the world’s oldest extant piece of printing, and the Suruga-ban Copper Type, which was made on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu and is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.

Recognizing the strong relationship between its business and society, the TOPPAN Group works to fulfill its responsibility as a good corporate citizen by strengthening mutual understanding through interaction and engagement with local communities. In addition to volunteer and environmental conservation activities in each region, the Group also reinforces its social engagement by collaborating with various organizations, NPOs, and NGOs on activities that support education, the arts, culture, and sports.

*Organizers: Japan School Library Association, The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd., and others; Sponsors: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and others; Cosponsor: TOPPAN Holdings; Special Cooperation: Takenaka Corporation