This was our 6th year running EGAKU for the 'Yume Plan Takaban' initiative at Takaban Elementary School in Tokyo.   The 24 children who joined us enthusiastically painted pictures of their hearts and minds. 

There were some children who seemed a little hesitant at first, but asking them to close their eyes and look into their hearts seemed to fire up their imaginations.  What color is it?  What is it like? Each of them peered into the invisible worlds of their hearts, and transformed these inner worlds into 24 beautiful creations.  

Here are some of the thoughts the participants shared with us about the experience: 

• Drawing my heart was hard but so much fun.  Now I like drawing pictures even more.
• It's more fun when you paint with your heart.
• I think I managed to look into my heart and paint it.  I don't get the chance to do this kind of thing very much.  I really want to do it again.  
• It was really nice to see everybody's hearts.  I learnt that this is how people in the olden days painted pictures.  
• Even if we all painted pictures of our hearts today, everyone had different feelings. Everyone's different thoughts and feelings were turned into different pictures.  I was so surprised!    

Theme: My heart
Program overview: EGAKU Program
Participants: 24 elementary school students
Host institution: Yume Plan Takaban
Venue: Takaban Elementary School of Meguro Ward
Instructor: Kunihiko Yazawa
Facilitator: Kimi Hasebe
Staff: Misako Fukuda, Hiroko Kawai, Ryoko Nakamura, Junko Sakamoto
※ This program was run by White Ship’s non-profit arm, ELAB.