“A Tale of Two Dragons” Wales Japan Collaboration 2025
Welsh illustrators Liz Fenwick and Valériane Leblond visited Osaka to work on an cross-cultural project that saw a Welsh dragon meet its Japanese counterpart in a new bilingual children’s story.
The project, “A Tale of Two Dragons: Connecting Wales and Japan Through Stories for Children,” brought together the two Welsh illustrators with Yoshifumi Hasegawa, a leading Japanese author of books for children to create a unique narrative exploring the meeting between Y Ddraig Goch, the Welsh Red Dragon, and the blue Japanese dragon, a traditional water creature.
Alexandra Büchler, Director of LAF, has travelled with the Welsh participants to Japan and following successful online workshops earlier this year, the team collaborated in person at Yoshifumi Hasegawa’s gallery and in the Osaka Central Library where story boards took shape and where the .
The team has been treated to traditional kamishibai (Japanese paper theatre) performances and immersive experiences in Hasegawa’s studio, deepening their understanding of Japanese storytelling traditions.
As part of the visit, Liz and Valériane facilitated a picture-book making workshop with children and meet with local members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The project will culminated in a public event at Osaka Central Library, where the collaborative story was presented.
LAF and WLE partnered with two significant Japanese literary organisations on this project: the International Institute for Children’s Literature in Osaka (IICLO) and the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY). The initiative was supported by Wales Arts International and British Council Wales as part of Wales Japan Year 2025.