- 2008-04-17 (Thu) 23:21
“Let’s join us in the program “Obacation” to nurture international communication skills and creativity of children by using Obake characters.”
I am Atsushi Kasao called “Dr. Boke.” We have been promoting the activity of “Obacation” in Japan.
Obake is a character that is created by imagination about what the surrounding things will become if they have a life or will like human beings.
This thinking of a character (Obake) leads to training of an “imagination of another world from personal things” to nurture the creativity of children. As the children are having fun and are involved in an imaginary world, they are becoming to create more interesting Obake.
In addition, via the Obake that the children created, the children are allowed to communicate each other, that’s why, Obake + Communication = Obacation. Up to now, the activity has been done almost only in Japan, but the amusingness of Obake is universal, therefore, I am thinking of spreading the Obacation all over the world. An idea of Obake comes from the surrounding things, so knowing the foreign Obake is to know the surrounding things in each country.
I think that the Obacation will serve as the 1st step for international exchange. On this website, the children have applied numerous Obakes by thinking of each story respectively. As the Obake has an interesting charactistic originally, it is easier to make an amusing story. If Obakes in other contries join the activity, it must be more fun.
I am also thinking of an international communication flow, that is, a child makes a story by using the Obake which a child in a different country created. Children in other countries will read the story.
For the above reason, we have decided to build an international Obacation website to communicate with foreign children via Obake. The website consists of the page for browsing the collection of the Obake (Obake Musium) and its stories about which children in the world thought, and the page to apply Obake (Obake Entry) and its story that a child imagined.
Everyone, please recommend this site for use by close children and educators. As the number of friends inreases, this activity should be more interesting.. Our dream is to have an Obacation operation site in each country and to have the contents browsed by children all over the world. We would really appreciate your cooperation in advance!
The governing body of Obacation includes Dr. Kasao’s laboratory of the Communication Design at Tokyo Polytechnic University in Japan and Creative Smile company established mainly by the graduates from the University.
Director of Obacation, Atsushi Kasao, called “Dr. Boke”
