Iwasaki Chihiro’s paintings showcased in Hanoi

The exhibit, which will be held at Japan Foundation Vietnam, 27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem district, will begin with the talk by Yuko Takesako, director of the Chihiro Museum of Art in Azumino, Japan. The talk is themed “Chihiro – the artist who connects Japan and Vietnam: Her sincere love for a peaceful, wealthy and beautiful world.”

Iwasaki Chihiro (1918-1974) is one of the world’s most loved illustrators. She is most known for her unique blend of Oriental traditional water-color paintings and Western ones.

As a war survivor, Chihiro’s favorite topics are children and flowers and many of her paintings are expressive of her yearnings for a peaceful, blissful world for everyone, particularly children.

The published credits of Chihiro, a renowned illustrator of children's books, include “Red Shoes”, “The Little Mermaid” (Blue Ribbon) and best-selling “Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window” by Kuroyanagi Tetsuko.

More than 7.6 million copies of “Totto-chan” have been sold in Japan, keeping the top-selling record of all times. The book has been translated into over 35 different languages, including Vietnamese. The Vietnamese translation of the book was published in Vietnam in 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the book’s first Japanese publication and recently won a local Good Book award.

While the character Totto-chan herself is adorable enough to attract a huge number of readers, Chihiro’s illustrative artworks on the book are also crucial to the book’s global popularity.

Chihiro won many local prizes. In 1973 she was diagnosed with liver cancer and died the following year, aged 55.