"I love Japan" - distribution in Unosomai, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

these pictures tell more than words:

 all photos taken by Hirohito Okayasu http://hirohitookayasu.com/

"I love Japan" - a drawing book for the children of Japan

With your help, we can send 1000 books to the children in Japan!

We are a team of 24 international designers and artists who created a activity and colouring book for the children of Fukushima Province – to put a little smile on their face. On the 11th of March it will be a year since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. And rather just money, we want to give something which truly comes from our hearts: a book to be creative with, to draw in, to cut out, to colour in or to simply enjoy.

1.000 copies of this creative book with 48 pages will be donated to children of Japan who were affected by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. To cover the costs 1.000 books will be sold to the public. For each sold book, we send one to a child in Japan! The idea is simple: 24 designers and artists have donated two pages to this book. This way we have created a children's book of 48 pages of various artistic styles. The work and unique style of all artists and designers make this book truly diverse and creative – which makes it interesting for bigger people, too! The book is ready for distribution since beginning of March. One book costs HK$ 100.- / 10.- €. This is a non profit project and all money raised will go into covering the expenses for the books sent to Japan.

This project was initiated by Liina Klauss (www.liinaklauss.blogspot.com) an illustrator from Hong Kong. In 2011 she has raised awareness and money for Japan by printing the ‘I love Japan’ T-shirts. For the 'I love Japan' book she teamed up with her project partner Anna Dabrowski (www.anna-dabrowski.com), a graphic and product designer from Berlin. Anna is responsible for the book design.

For further details or images please contact: japanilove2011(at)gmail(dot)com
And please 'like' our facebook page: I LOVE JAPAN (www.facebook.com/pages/I-lOVE-JAPAN/198978900141679)

アイラヴジャパン、日 本 の 子 供 達 の 為 の 絵 本 。

日本の東北大震災が起きてから ３月１１日で１年になります。

私達は　世界で活躍している２４人のデザイナーとアーテイストです。 その中には ロンドン在中のイラストレーターのマリオン ドーシャー、香港新聞のサウスチャイナ モーニングポストで活躍している風刺画家 ハリー ハリソン、ベルリンのストリート アーテイスト ジム アビニヨンなどがいます。私達は　福島県の子供達に何かをしてあげたい気持ちから お金を寄付するより もっと心が伝わる方法をと考えました。そこで 行き着いたのが この絵本の製作です。この本は 塗り絵として使ったり はさみで切って工作などして遊べます。
この絵本を １０００部　福島の子供達に贈呈する予定です。この「アイ ラブ ジャパン」の本は　一人一人のアーテイストが ２ページイラストを担当し寄付して下さいました。それぞれの個性的なイラストが４８ページにわたり編集されてます。この本は子供の為のみならず アート本としても 大変に希少価値があります。

この本は３月の初めに販売となります。１冊香港１００ドルです。

この企画は　営利目的としてません。売上金の全ては 今回掛かった出費、印刷、紙代、　配達費などの支払いの一部に当てられます。この本を１冊買って下さる事により１冊が福島の子供達に渡ります。この企画は 香港在住のイラストレーター リイナ クラウスによって 率先して取り組まれました。 彼女は また２０１１年に”アイ ラブ ジャパン”と書かれたＴシャツをデザインし 寄付金を募りながら東北震災の認識を高めました。

”アイ ラブ ジャパン”の本は　彼女とこの企画のパートナー ベルリンに住み グラフイックデザイナーでプロジェクトデザイナーのアンナ ダブロウスキーが この本の責任者です。


もっと詳しい内容は  japanilove2011(at)gmail(dot)com

a simple idea ....... from liina klauss

As a fashion designer I had the privilege of working and living in Tokyo in 2001 and I feel deeply grateful for the time spent in this beautiful country. When the earthquake and tsunami hit in 2011 I felt the urge to help. Being a mother myself I especially feel for the traumatized children of 3.11. So I came up with theidea of a colouring and activity book, sharing the one thing I cherish most: creativity!
Rather than money, I want to give that which comes from my heart and hands.... drawing, painting, paper cutting, printing, or simply appreciating artwork! I got in touch with the people who I met along my path as an artist: illustrators, designers and artists from all over the globe, from Hong Kong, Berlin, New York, and London, to name just a few. I asked them to help me illustrate this book and there was a big 'yes!' from their sides. 
This is how "I love Japan" was born: each one of us illustrated and donated two pages, all in all a book of 48 pages. The result is a book to be creative with, to colour in, to cut out, to skribble, to continue drawing or to simply look at and enjoy.  The book is ready for distribution since beginning of March. The first print run is 2000 copies, of which 1000 copies will go to Japanese children:))


Each book sold will ensure a book that can be given to a child in Japan!


If you got any questions concerning this project please feel free to contact me: japanilove2011(at)gmail(dot)com

This flower is called 'Pink Sorrel' (oxalis regnellii). It is native to Hong Kong and it blooms in March. I have been portraying it on the illustration above, combined with a lot of traffic, skyscrapers and satellite towers. The inspiration comes from my great grandmother Else Wenz-Viëtor, who was a well known children's book illustrator in the 1920s in Germany. Her favourite subject were flowers and little elves pushing prams made out of nutshells and carrying primrose umbrellas. So I took the same theme into 2012 Hong Kong. My illustration is much less romantic and maybe even critical of the situation we humans put ourselves in, considering that there are only 100 years between the illustration of my great grandmother and me. 

You can see my profile in the reflection of the computer screen as well as my daughter Lucia, colouring in the print outs on our kitchen lable in Hong Kong ... she loves pink:)


Liina lives on an island called Lantau in Hong Kong together with her two children and husband. 


For more information about Liina, please visit  www.liinaklauss.blogspot.com

my right hand ...... anna dabrowski

Anna is a friend of mine who I met at art school in Berlin in 1997. I always admired her work, she's so talented!

When I asked Anna to join the 'I love Japan' project, she said there was no question: she will do it! 

So for the last weeks we were mailing, calling and skyping back and forth between Hong Kong and Berlin. Anna is amazingly hard-working, reliable, commited and (last but not least) fun to work with!

She put together all the artwork and gave the book an all-over layout. It was her who had the great idea to put a map in the front of the book, so children can trace back where the artwork comes from.

A design research project in Japan in 2005 was Anna's start of a never ending love story with Japan, which still inspires her in her work as an designer and artist. 

Anna is a graphic and interior designer. She works from Berlin.

For more information about Anna, please visit  www.anna-dabrowski.com

ann cathrin raab

Ann Cathrin is a friend of Eleanor Marston. My two children love her illustrations! They are so funny and very animating! More of this style of drawings are to be found in "Krickel-Krakel-Buch" published by Oetinger Verlag. Also check out her picturebooks published at Hinstorff Verlag, Thienemann Verlag and mixtvision Verlag. For her illustrations, Ann Cathrin got the BIB Plaque-Award and honors for "best designed books". 
Ann Cathrin has a little daughter and lives with her family in the North of Germany in Neumünster.


For more information about Ann Cathrin, please visit www.anncathrinraab.de

coletta ehrmann

"When Liina contacted me and told me about her idea to make this book, i was immediately inspired to make a contribution. I was imagining the children in Japan and then thinking about myself: when i was a child i loved dressing up and playing a character. Sometimes a mask is enough to start a play and then imagination will do the rest. For the 'I love Japan' book I made a link to the Japanese culture by taking my inspiration from the faces of the 'Kabuki' theater, as well as from my own memories and my love to Japan." 

For more information about Coletta, please visit www.coletta.at

david stelfox

"I am a print maker based in London working out of a small studio in my spare room at home and I produce prints, cards and other stationary. My work for the' I love Japan' project was inspired by what I saw as archetypal Japanese graphical figures especially the maneki neko (beckoning cat) which is a lucky symbol. I combined these with geometric designs inspired by traditional kimono designs and more contemporary ideas."

For more information about David, please visit www.handprintedbydavid.blogspot.com