Children Drawings Tell Stories Of Deep Concern For The Environment
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan 
on 11.23.08
Asking kids how they feel about environmental problems can be a wake-up call for many adults. A child's sadness and anger at pollution issues and worries about the future can be deep and profound. Collaborating with well-known manga artists, Japan's Environmental Ministry has collected drawing from all over the country. I saved some of the images below the fold, hoping we can learn from their thoughts and ideas.
Ampanman coming to the rescue: Manga is serious business. The International Manga Summit began in 1996 as the East Asia Manga Summit. Manga artists from Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan held conferences and joint exhibitions in order to share their feelings, exchange cultures, and discuss copyright issues. The theme for the 2008 Kyoto Convention was Environmental Innovation.
Global focus: This theme was appropriate given that Kyoto was the site of the United Nation's Convention on Climate Change. They wanted to boost awareness of "global warming prevention", "dietary education", and "The 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)", while advocating the passing of the torch of a promising culture to the children and young people responsible for the next generation.
Street-smart cats: This drawing is my favourite! The cats are leaving the cars behind, riding their bikes instead.
Blowing in the wind: These windmills are a colourful rendering of the paper-toys that all kids love to play with, reminding us that windpower need not be grey and dull. In the world of children, the future is bright and fun - if only.
Brought to you by Martin Frid at greenz.jp
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this is nice... our future looks greener already...(well it's pretty colorful actually)
How is this surprising? I mean, have you seen all of the propaganda directed at kids over these issues? The amount of brainwashing... err... teaching and time spent at schools?
The number of books, comics, TV shows, and even major movies (WALL-E) on the subject?
Seriously, it's the modern day equivalent of the Cold War. I'm sure in the 60's you'd have had the same number of drawings from kids told they were going to die from A-bombs and nuclear winter.