FEW THAIS, even if they frequently visit Japan, will recognise the name Kembuchi, but the little town on the northern main island of Hokkaido is doing its bit to help Thai students.

Kantida “Froy” Prathumnan of Thammasat University recently got to travel to Kembuchi as the winner of the “Children’s Picture Book Contest for Newcomers” staged by the Japanese municipality in cooperation with Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park) on the eighth floor of Central World in Bangkok.

The competition for rookie writer-illustrators was part of the 2017 Kembuchi Picture Book Festival, an event held annually for more than two decades. Froy won top honours with “Tepi Sinil”, a tale about a girl from Suphan Buri. The title translates as “Dark-skinned Pageant”.

Kembuchi, en route to Asahikawa in Hokkaido, has a population of only 3,300, but the Picture Book Festival draws many more, and year-round there’s the Ehon no Yakata, a picture-book museum.

Families flock to the museum to browse the exhibits and its storehouse of more than 40,000 books, both foreign and Japanese. The shelves also hold the more than 5,000 illustrated books entered in the annual contest over the course of 20 years.

A museum librarian said the staff is knowledgeable enough about children’s books that many Japanese publishers want to add their titles to the collection.

Separate from the shelves of reading material are play areas. In front of the museum, inside an egg-shaped building, is the Gravel Pit, filled with 100,000 balls that kids can dive into – noticeably more quietly than Thai children engaged in a similar pastime, interestingly enough.

The museum seems to be a wonderful environment for stimulating young imaginations. Storytelling and workshops about books occupy their minds and there are regular exhibitions of book illustrations.

Anyone feeling peckish can head to the Rakugaki Cafe for sweets or a light meal. Shops sell knick-knacks and, of course, more picture books.

“It’s a place where kids get interested in books,” the librarian said. “And even when they’re older, they often come back and do activities with the next generation.”

There’s a promotional poster for the 2007 film “Jin Jin”, which was actor Daichi Yasuo’s thank you to the town for taking such great interest in children’s education. It’s set in Kembuchi and looks at the bond between a parent and child.

It’s amazing to see what this suburban community has accomplished despite its small size, and Mayor Hayasaka Sumiois duly proud of how it’s left its mark on the picture-book scene.

Having “built the town” on illustrated children’s books, he said, the next step is to use them to build bridges between cultures. “We need to exchange our views and create similar success stories elsewhere,” he said.

This year the town collaborated with agencies in Thailand and Taiwan to hold picture-book contests, and last month it welcomed the winners from both countries.

Froy said she was most impressed by the mayor’s comment that building good people begins with their hearts and minds. Picture books, blending literature and art, offer the ideal medium for instilling in children a love of reading. For adults, it becomes simply a matter of making time to sit with the kids and read to them.

With winter taking hold in northern Japan, the hotel Kembuchi Onsen Lakeside Sakuraoka was already surrounded by snow. Froy was seeing snow for the first time and deemed it “a gift from Heaven to welcome me to Kembuchi”.

Another local spot well worth visiting is the Viva Alpaca Farm, where the charming South American animals love to be petted and even hugged. Farms growing rice, cabbages and potatoes surround Kembuchi, and there’s a welcoming serenity in the rural life and at nearby Lake Sakuraoka.

Kembuchi is small enough to explore in a day, preferably by bicycle. It’s a place that does indeed set the imagination free.

PLAN AHEAD

>> TK Park has hosted its own International Children’s Picture Book Festival annually since 2014. The next one is scheduled for March 31 to April 8 next year.

>> Find out more at http://www.TKPark.or.th.