Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project

The Seventh Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held on Monday, August 20, 2018 at Toyooka Hospital, a public hospital established and operated by Toyooka Public Hospitals' Association in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture.

About 50 people participated in total, including some 30 children hospitalized or receiving outpatient medical care at the hospital and their parents. With Mr. Kuroda’s enthusiastic call, “Let’s make interesting pictures together,” the participants began drawing colorful pictures of animals, cartoon characters, and so on freely on paper. Nippon Shinyaku employees also joined the children and enjoyed drawing pictures. The event went on for about an hour and remained lively all the time, with a big smile always on everybody’s face. The pictures drawn during the event, along with those drawn prior to the event by other children who were not able to participate in person, were posted on four boards. These pictures complemented Mr. Kuroda’s four large paintings, each 1.5 by 1.5 meters. They were displayed in the central waiting hall on the first floor of the hospital so that they could be viewed by as many people as possible.

The Sixth Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held on Friday, March 9, 2018 at Saitama Children’s Medical Center.

On the day of the event, about 30 children hospitalized or regularly receiving medical care at the Center and their parents drew pictures to their heart’s delight for about an hour, creating images of animals, fictional characters, and the like on paper with crayons of various colors. Nippon Shinyaku employees also took part in the event, drawing alongside the children and adding further liveliness to the event. Finally, drawings by the participants and other children who were not able to come to the event were posted on large boards and perfected Mr. Kuroda’s four large (1.5 x 1.5 meter) paintings. After the event, the pictures were exhibited at the hospital to be viewed by many people.

The Fifth Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held on Thursday, September 14, 2017 at Nagano Children’s Hospital in Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture.

The event drew 14 families of children hospitalized or receiving outpatient medical care at the hospital. As Mr. Kuroda called out, “Let me see you draw all sorts of things!” the participants, with color crayons in hand, let their imagination run on paper, drawing animals, imaginary creatures, characters, and so on. The participants’ pictures and others drawn by children who were not able to participate in the event were posted on large boards, complementing Mr. Kuroda’s four large paintings (1.5 by 1.5 meters). The finished pictures were displayed in the hospital so that they could be viewed by many people.

On Friday, August 22, 2014, the Fourth Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held at Hiroshima University Hospital in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture.
In the morning, children hospitalized in the hospital’s pediatric ward drew pictures together on a large sheet of paper. In the afternoon, children attending Tanpopo Nursery, the hospital nursery school, drew pictures of fish, sea lions, and other living things individually on their drawing sheets with crayons. The 18 children in the room, aged between four and six, completed their pictures, as Mr. Kuroda watched over and encouraged the children.
The completed pictures were exhibited in the event hall of the hospital until the end of September 2014.

The Third Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held on Thursday, April 3, 2014 from 10 o’clock in the morning at Kitakyushu Night and Holiday Emergency Medical Center No. 2 in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture.
The “Com City” complex, where the medical center is located, is Kitakyushu City’s nucleus of regional public services and human resource development agencies. The Yahata Nishi Ward Office, the Employment Service Center “Hello Work,” the Citizens’ Gallery, and many other community facilities are concentrated here. This site was selected for the Project in the hopes that pictures drawn by people of multiple generations could bring smiles to visitors at the complex.

On the day of the event, 35 children, all elementary school pupils or younger living in and around Kitakyushu City who had responded to an open call for participation, gathered together at the venue. First, the children listened to Mr. Kuroda’s talk, with excited expressions on their faces. With Mr. Kuroda’s “Now, start drawing!” the children replied with an energetic “Yes!” Holding crayons, they freely drew pictures on the wall.
At the same time, Mr. Kuroda drew, using a gentle touch, birds fluttering their wings, flowers, and other images suggestive of hopes on the walls of the medical center’s waiting lounge and hallway. At the end, the event was immortalized with a commemorative photo of all the participants, with the finished pictures in the background.

The Second Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held on Saturday, August 3, 2013 at Hoai Hospital in Osaka City.
The venue of the second edition of the Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project, Hoai Hospital, offers a full range of rehabilitation care and facilities, including a 100% natural hot spring swimming pool used for rehabilitation exercises and a dedicated convalescence ward. At the event, about 50 participants, including the hospital’s patients currently in rehabilitation and their families, as well as hospital staff members, drew pictures on paper with Mr. Seitaro Kuroda.
Mr. Kuroda also drew birds in upward flight and other hopeful images with a gentle touch on the walls of the first to fifth floors of the hospital and the rehabilitation room used for the event. At the event’s closing, Mr. Kuroda addressed the participants: “Drawing together with you, patients undergoing rehabilitation, has renewed my determination to do my best. Pictures can’t cure diseases, but I hope that they will bring happy and peaceful feelings when people, including the hospital personnel, who do very precious and hard work, look at the pictures and appreciate their beauty.” Finally, a commemorative group photo was taken with the participants’ pictures in the background.

The First Nippon Shinyaku & Seitaro Kuroda Smiles Art Project was held on Sunday, March 31, 2013 at Ono Town General Hospital, a public hospital in Tamura District, Fukushima Prefecture. Local residents, including elementary school pupils, and hospital personnel got together and drew pictures on the walls of the hospital.
Ono Town General Hospital was seriously damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, and preparation is currently underway for the construction of a new hospital building. In two years’ time, the present hospital will be demolished. This hospital was selected as the venue of the inaugural project so that local people could engrave their memories on the walls of the hospital, which has served the local community for so many years, and make new memories that would bring smiles.
On the day of the event, Mr. Kuroda suggested: “Why don’t we draw flowers and things like that to make people smile when they come to the hospital? Because this is where people usually come because of injury or sickness.” Some 70 participants, including first- to fourth-graders from Ono Niimachi and Natsui Daiichi Elementary Schools, their parents, other local residents, and hospital personnel, happily complied. The children drew flowers, birds, butterflies, and the like with colorful crayons. In about an hour, vivid works of “hospital art” were completed. At the end of the event, a commemorative group photo of all the participants was taken in front of the pictures.