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5th Grade Girl Wins Miyazaki's Jet Art Design Contest
posted on by Egan Loo
Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: Yūko Yamaguchi, a 10-year-old fifth-grade girl from the southern Japanese city of Tokushima, won a contest judged by director Hayao Miyazaki to design the art on the first Boeing 787 airliner from Japan Airlines (JAL). JAL made the decision to use Yamaguchi's art on April 10, although Miyazaki (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Spirited Away) and the other judges chose her design as the best in March. 13,474 elementary school children from eight countries, including Japan, America, China, and France, submitted drawings to the contest between last August and this past February. (Yamaguchi was in fourth grade when the contest was running.) JAL plans to introduce the first Boeing 787 airliner into its fleet in 2009. JAL is displaying Yamaguchi's design and the top runner-up designs online.
In related news, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki confirmed at an April 11 press screening of Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea's first trailer that the film itself will open on July 19. The trailer for Miyazaki's latest film will run in Japanese theaters starting on April 19.
Source: Tokushima Shimbun, Nikkan Sports
