"Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima" is not a library, but a cultural facility for children. "I want to create a place where children can be excited," says Yoshitaka Haba."Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima" is not a library, but a cultural facility for children. "I want to create a place where children can be excited," says Yoshitaka Haba.

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A “sacred place of stories for children” drawn by Yoshitaka Haba

2020.3.20

1. Book Director Yoshitaka Haba's mechanism to "offer books to children"

``Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima'' is not a library, but a cultural facility for children. "I want to create a place where children can be excited," says Yoshitaka Haba.

Sandwiched between the Tosabori River and the Dojima River, Nakanoshima has long been considered the cultural center of Osaka. A new cultural facility for children, ``Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima,'' will be born here. As soon as you step into the building located on the waterfront of Nakanoshima Park, you will find yourself in a forest of books, with the walls of all three floors covered to the ceiling with books. Architect Tadao Ando, ​​who proposed the facility, designed the building, and donated it to the city of Osaka, envisions it as a place where children can encounter books and develop a rich sensitivity and imagination. In addition to introducing Yoshitaka Haba, the creative director of "Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima," who says, "I was impressed by his thoughts," he also introduces the thoughts of Yoshitaka Haba, the creative director of "Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima." Here we introduce five books you should definitely pick up at ``Book Forest Nakanoshima''.

 

Story by Yoshitaka Haba

As a book director, I work in public libraries, corporate libraries, hospital libraries, and anything related to books. This time, for ``Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima,'' I went beyond that scope as a creative director, not only creating concepts, selecting books, and arranging the shelves, but also hiring art directors and merchandisers for branding, and creating the logo. We even created a system to generate money, such as developing original goods. I don't think it's easy to be completely independent and self-employed, but I think a management perspective is necessary even in public facilities. We considered items from a variety of perspectives, including items that children would like, items that would be useful in daily life from the perspective of parents visiting the museum with their children, and items that would make good souvenirs. Many of them are manufactured by companies and manufacturers based in Osaka.

A three-story atrium overlooks bookshelves that reach all the way to the ceiling. The river and greenery can be glimpsed through the gaps, and the design creates a sense of peace rather than an oppressive feeling. A three-story atrium overlooks bookshelves that reach all the way to the ceiling. The river and greenery can be glimpsed through the gaps, and the design creates a sense of peace rather than an oppressive feeling.

A three-story atrium overlooks bookshelves that reach all the way to the ceiling. The river and greenery can be glimpsed through the gaps, and the design creates a sense of peace rather than an oppressive feeling.

``Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima'' has a collection of approximately 18000 books. Of these, 13086 books were purchased and 4700 were donated books. In response to Tadao Ando's desire to ``reflect the voices of the city,'' we looked through more than 1 donated books from citizens and many other people, and removed damaged books one by one. Carefully selected. In addition to Japanese books donated from within Japan, there are also rare books in foreign languages ​​that were donated by architects and related parties from Switzerland, Colombia, the United States, and other countries at Mr. Ando's request.

``Yoake'' ``Yoake''

[Recommended books by Yoshitaka Haba 1.]
``Yoake'' Written and illustrated by: Yury Schulwitz Translated by: Teiji Seta Publisher: Fukuinkan Shoten One dark night, the sun rises over a lake. He depicts such a scene with the transition of pale colors, drawing you into a fantastical world. This book is lined up in the "1. Let's play with nature" category corner, which has books about flowers, forests, rivers, the sea, animals, etc., right next to the entrance. A section of the book is also shown on the first floor as a video work.

I've worked on children's books in the past, and from that experience I can tell you that children don't like being treated like children. Rather than assuming that picture books are for children, we have a wide selection of picture books, manga, and art books that adults can also find interesting. The backs of picture books often say "until the age of 4," but adults shouldn't limit a child's potential by making assumptions.


MIDI PILE MIDI PILE

[Recommended books by Yoshitaka Haba 2.]
``MIDI PILE'' Written by: Rebecca Dautremer Published by: France A book that resembles a craft, made up of detailed and delicate cutouts. It was donated by a Swiss architect who is a friend of Tadao Ando. From the "1. Osaka → Japan → World" category, which collects books to learn about the world starting from Osaka. He expands his horizons to books on Osaka's famous places and history, travel books, and books on cultures from all over Japan and around the world.

The modern internet society is a search society, and there are fewer and fewer places where people can touch real books and choose books. The point is, I'm in an environment where I only pick up books I know. However, what is important for children is not to read a lot, but to have the experience of getting stuck and stumbling over a single book. I want to create a ``device'' that allows people to accidentally pick up a book they don't know about. In other words, how you choose books and how you present them is important.

"My One Piece" "My One Piece"

[Recommended books by Yoshitaka Haba 3.]
``My One Piece'' Written and illustrated by: Kayako Nishima Publisher: Kogumasha This is a book that every girl who loves fashion should pick up at least once, and has been read from generation to generation since its publication in 1969. A pure white dress goes out to various places and changes into various patterns. A variety of items, from art to poetry, minerals, and geometry, are introduced in the ``1. Beautiful Things'' category and the ``Fashion'' area.

In the past, the idea was that a library with a large collection of books was a good one, but that is no longer the case. In order for people to encounter a book that touches their heart, it is necessary to have a ``throw'' or ``device''. The biggest ``device'' at ``Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima'' is the ``space where you feel like you are surrounded by books'' where every wall is covered with books. The bookshelves that reach all the way to the ceiling are displayed so that the covers can be seen, and the same books are lined up on the bottom of the shelves to make them easier to pick up.


“I think I want to eat spaghetti.” “I think I want to eat spaghetti.”

[Recommended books by Yoshitaka Haba 4.]
``I Want to Eat Spaghetti'' Written by: Eiko Kadono Illustrated by: Yoko Sasaki Publisher: Poplar Publishing A long-selling children's fairy tale published in 1979, with hiragana and katakana rubies. Children's fairy tales are an important genre that bridges the gap between picture books and children's literature, and ``rather than passive reading aloud, they provide an opportunity for a spontaneous reading experience,'' says Haba. Lined up in the "5. Eating" category.

Furthermore, there is a unique "device" for classifying and arranging items. Although it is based on the NDC (Nippon Decimal Classification), which is a common library classification, it has been categorized into 12 themes that children will find interesting, with an approach that is more similar to "editing." did. For example, ``Let's play with nature'' refers to the natural environment such as plants, the ocean, and celestial bodies. "Osaka → Japan → World" includes travel books, Osaka's famous places and history books, as well as world culture. ``Beautiful things'' include not only music and fashion, but also architecture, geometry, cats, etc.

"today" "today"

[Recommended books by Yoshitaka Haba 5.]
``Today'' Written by: Unknown Translated by: Hiromi Ito Illustrated by: Masakatsu Shimoda Publisher: Fukuinkan Shoten Hiromi Ito translated a poem that has been passed down in New Zealand's child care support facilities. The poem, which begins with ``I didn't wash the dishes,'' caused a stir in Japan, especially on the internet. The "12. For those close to children" section covers everything from childbirth and childcare to family and education. We also have books to support people who are struggling with childcare issues.

We also created several mechanisms to appeal from a visual perspective. The bookshelves are lined with ``word sculptures,'' which are three-dimensional representations of words extracted from books. In addition, in the empty cylindrical space on the first floor, we will be screening ``Book Fragments,'' which are made from story fragments cut out from books. We wanted each device to be an entry point for children to become interested in books, and to be an opportunity for children to encounter books.


Light shines from the ceiling into the dim cylinder, and passages from books occasionally appear on the wall. The empty space at the back of the first floor is the door to the world of stories. Light shines from the ceiling into the dim cylinder, and passages from books occasionally appear on the wall. The empty space at the back of the first floor is the door to the world of stories.

Light shines from the ceiling into the dim cylinder, and passages from books occasionally appear on the wall. The empty space at the back of the first floor is the door to the world of stories.

In this day and age, I feel that the distance between people and books is getting farther and farther apart. Adults and children alike don't have much time, so they don't spend time reading books, which take time to immerse themselves in. However, I believe that there are things that can only be achieved through paper books. I am often asked how to get children to read. The answer is simple, adults should read it first. If children find the book appealing and enjoy it, they will naturally become interested.

 

→Next is Fumikazu Ohara (art director).

 

(Titles omitted)

 

Children's Book Forest Nakanoshima
28-XNUMX-XNUMX Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
Tel: 06-6204-0808
Opening hours: 30:17-XNUMX:XNUMX
Closed: Mondays (open if Monday is a holiday, closed the next day)
Entrance fee: free
*Opening has been postponed due to measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
As soon as the opening date and time is decided, we will announce it on our website, SNS, etc. along with the advance reservation procedure.

 

Yoshitaka Haba
Book director/selector
Born in 1976. Graduated from Keio University Faculty of Law. After working as a bookseller, he joined JI Co., Ltd. He learned editing from Jiro Ishikawa. In October 2005, he established the book selection group BACH. He handles everything related to books. His responsibilities include library production, book sales direction, editing, writing, and curation of events and advertisements. He has made numerous radio and television appearances. He is the author of ``Haku Shoten's 10 books: Become blood and flesh'' (Magazine House), ``You don't have to read books'' (Shobunsha), ``Doraemon famous quotes ``Nobita-kun, try a little harder'' ( Shogakukan), ``Listen to the Voice of Books: The Work of Book Director Yoshitaka Haba'' (written by Tsuyoshi Takase, Bungeishunju), etc.

Photography by Noriko Kawase
Text by Aki Fujita

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