Yamada Bee Company, Inc. Hideo Yamada, President

In six countries throughout the world, we asked the question "What kind of life will you have when you grow up?" As a part of the question, when we asked "Can you build a happy family," 85% of Brazilian, 76% of Korean, 68% of Chinese, 63% of American, and 57% of New Zealand children answered yes to the question. In contrast and to great surprise, only 38% of Japanese children answered positively. When asked if they could make good parents, 82% of Brazilian, 65% of Korean, 70% of Chinese, 63% of American, and 57% of New Zealand kids were confident that they could, compared to the stunningly low number of 21% positive Japanese responses. We think that Japanese children cannot feel a sense of peace and mental satisfaction, and they have no dreams for the future.

The situation has become serious, as many problems, including criminal behavior at earlier ages, sudden criminal intent in normal children, rough classrooms, and bullying all contribute to the problem for children. The source of the problem is complex, but without doubt having children enveloped in the environment that our adult society has created is one reason. Additional sources of the problem include dwindling numbers of children as well as the change to a nuclear family, a lack of connection between adults of generations, a lack of connection with nature, and the vice of being overly self-educated. Further, a considerably increase in exposure to graphic violence through the media is degrading the educational environment, and as a consequence, children are spending less time reading and writing. We feel that the lack of reading books is a serious contributor to the problem.

In order to combat this problem, Yamada Bee Farms is taking responsibility as a member in the adult society by hosting this contest and deepening our relationship with children. Through the books that are created in this contest, many individual children will learn the joy of reading, and even if only a few, we hope that adults will join in this contest, gain a genuine interest in the future of children, and take action to help them.

We have held this contest for six years, but beginning this year we will add the title of crowning prize. The aim of this contest will always be "for the children," and including ourselves at Yamada Bee Farm as the sponsors of the competition, we hope that we can provoke deeper thought amongst both the creators and readers. We intend to preserve the idea of this contest, and we will place great value on its concept of "for the children of the future."