Children's Articles Combined into One "Big Newspaper"! Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture Launches Recruitment for "Let's Be Elementary School Reporters and Cover Kinomoto"

Nagahama City's Future Children and Youth Division in Shiga Prefecture will hold "Elementary School Talk 2026," an experiential program where elementary school students will cover local shops and facilities and create their own newspaper, on August 3, 2026 (Mon) in Kinomoto Town, Nagahama City.

Scenes from last year's "Elementary School Talk 2025: Exploring the Town to Gather Feelings" 1

Scenes from last year's "Elementary School Talk 2025: Exploring the Town to Gather Feelings" 2

Elementary School Talk 2026 Theme

This year's theme is "Let's Be Elementary School Reporters and Cover Kinomoto!"

Children will become newspaper reporters and interview people active in the community.

The stage for this event, Kinomoto Town, is an area where many historic townscapes and long-established stores still remain, allowing participants to directly experience the culture and work passed down through generations.

The townscape of Kinomoto Town

Through interviewing people working in the community, children will compile articles from their own perspectives, such as "Why did you start this job?" "What is your most popular product?" and "Surprising discoveries!" to complete their one-of-a-kind newspapers.

Image of completed newspaper

Children's articles combined into one "Big Newspaper"

This time, we will have a newspaper reporter from Chunichi Shimbun as a special instructor to teach them how to ask questions, take notes, and other aspects of real newspaper production.

After the interviews, groups will create their own newspapers, and the completed articles will be finished on the spot into one "Big Newspaper" by illustrator Hitoshi Nakao.

Last year's large map

By connecting the articles, illustrations, and discoveries from each child's coverage into one large newspaper, they will share the charm of Kinomoto that they might not have noticed on their own, and convey the appeal of the entire region as a single work.

The completed Big Newspaper will be exhibited in the community, delivering the charm of Kinomoto discovered through the children's eyes to many local residents.

Background of the Event

Opportunities for children to directly interact with people working and shops in the community are not very common.

"Elementary School Talk 2026" is a hands-on experiential education program where children go out into the community, conduct their own interviews, listen to stories, and express their thoughts in the form of a newspaper.

It aims to create opportunities to "learn about real jobs" by experiencing local work and the passion behind it, while also fostering expressive skills such as "listening, organizing, and communicating," and collaborative skills by working together in groups to complete a newspaper.

Furthermore, a major feature of this project is that through newspaper production, children express the charm of the region they feel through words and illustrations, and deliver it to many people.

The completed newspapers will be exhibited in the community, disseminating the charm of Kinomoto discovered through the children's perspective.

By making the entire process, from "learning about the region" to "connecting with the region and delivering to the region," a unified learning experience, we aim to foster understanding of the community and local affection.

Program

Day's Schedule

- Lecture on the job of a newspaper reporter - Coverage activities in the Kinomoto area - Newspaper production by group - Presentation of results - Big newspaper production

Event Overview

[Event Name] 2026 Children and Youth Voice "Elementary School Talk 2026" Elementary School Reporters - Let's Cover Kinomoto!

[Date and Time] August 3, 2026 (Mon) 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM

[Venue] Kinomoto Koyu-kan (Kinomoto Town, Nagahama City)

[Target Audience] Elementary school students (Grades 1-6) in Nagahama City

[Capacity] 20 people (first-come, first-served)

[Participation Fee] Free

[Organizer] Nagahama City Future Children and Youth Division

Illustration Production: Hitoshi Nakao Planning and Operation: crevus design Inc.

Participation Application Flyer

How to Apply

- Apply by filling out the form below

- Applications start today, July 1

- Applications will close once the capacity of 20 people is reached on a strictly first-come, first-served basis.

Application Form

Inquiries

Nagahama City Future Children and Youth Division

mirai-kodomo@city.nagahama.lg.jp

crevus design Inc.

With the philosophy of "challenging for happiness," we develop creative businesses such as graphic design, web production, video production, and illustration production, based in Shiga Prefecture. We also support the challenges of people and communities through the power of design by planning and operating projects that connect communities, education, and companies, such as the educational program "Challenge Lab" and the local experiential information magazine "Marumaru Possible."

📩 info@crevus.boo.jp ☎️080-4195-2764