Nakayoku Stories
January 31, 2024
Collaborations with Partners
Participating in the Sanrio Nakayoku Project made me realize how product design can bring smiles to children's faces.
Natsumi Kawamoto
Section 2 of the Licensing Design Department, Global Digital & Marketing Division
Profile
Ms. Kawamoto joined Sanrio in 2014. Prior to the Licensing Design Department, she worked in the former Character Design Division and also created original products for Sanrio's directly managed stores. She currently supervises and design products for licensees and is working on the Pompompurin manga project.
*All affiliations and positions in this section are as of the time of the interview.
Sanrio designers taught children how to draw characters during Sanrio's “One-Day Summer Vacation Course” at Shisei Gakuen, a children's home in Tachikawa, Tokyo. Ms. Kawamoto described her experience volunteering for the class.
Sharing the joy of drawing and teach the kids about what designers do
I wanted to be a part of the One-Day Summer Vacation Course after hearing about the wonderful experiences of employees who participated in 2022. When I was a student, a friend invited me to volunteer at a daycare center, and for many years I used to go and enjoy drawing and playing with the children. Because of that, I had a good idea what to expect from the Sanrio course.
I also wanted to participate so I could tell the children that drawing can be a career. There are very few opportunities for kids to learn about what a designer's job is. I've loved to draw ever since I was a child, but it wasn't until I started applying to study art at university that I got a clear image of what kind of jobs were possible. The one-day course included time to explain what a designer's job is, so I joined hoping that if there were any kids like me, I could tell them about jobs for people who like to draw.
Children's smiles bloom at the One-Day Summer Vacation Course
Thirty boys and girls, mostly elementary and middle school kids, came to the event. It was wonderful to see their excitement, and some even came with Hello Kitty hair clips and Kuromi plushies.
We started by introducing Sanrio as a company, and then conducted a lotto draw where everyone wins a prize. I used the opportunity to explain what a designer does. Then, I taught them the key points to drawing the characters, and they drew their favorite characters on hand-held uchiwa fans using samples I had brought with me or ones they had brought themselves. The students quietly concentrated on their drawings. One of them even created their own character by combining Keroppi with an onigiri rice ball and called it Onigirikeroppi. Their boundless imagination was amazing.
The kids were overjoyed when Hello Kitty appeared at the end of the course. I was touched that even kids who had been unable to join in the course came over to meet Hello Kitty.
The children's smiles motivate me to continue creating designs
Drawing the characters had become part of my daily routine, but after participating in the course and seeing how amazed and delighted the kids were to see the drawings, I realized that I have a useful skills. It would make me so happy if that opportunit prompted any of the children to think “I want to be a designer, too!” Designers don't have many opportunities to come into direct contact with fans in the course of our design production and supervision work. Seeing the children's smiles has made me want to pay even closer attention to creating products with their final use in mind.
I definitely want to have more opportunities like this in the future.
Since I work at an entertainment company, I would like to contribute to society not just through the characters but also by providing other fun things.
Comments
Encounters with dreams lead children to happiness. I think it's the role of adults to act as a bridge.
We enjoyed hosting the wonderful One-Day Summer Vacation Course and inviting Hello Kitty to Shisei Gakuen.
When the designer drew the characters with quick strokes, the kids' eyes lit up and they exclaimed “Wow! It's the real thing!” Then, they eagerly tried to draw the characters themselves. Their interactions with Hello Kitty had a real aura of joy and happiness.
I want children who have experienced abuse or sadness to have opportunities to meet exemplary adults and see their dreams become real so they can understand that it's all right to feel happiness.
I hope Sanrio will continue this wonderful project in the future.
Director, Tachikawa Campus
Shisei Gakuen Social Welfare Corporation