Sakura MedalChapter Books

The Sakura Medal program brings together students from international schools across Japan each year to vote for their favorite books. The mission of the Sakura medal award program is to create a show more community of lifelong readers in international schools in Japan. We aim for a diverse selection of fantastic and engaging books.




Major Themes

Develop a lifelong love of reading

Encourage reading, particularly outside the classroom setting

Create a community of readers, both in our individual schools and in the wider international school community

Highlight Japanese authors, setting, themes and culture

Highlight new and lesser known authors

Diversity of genre, author, countries, experiences, worldview, and underrepresented populations

Expose students to fantastic books in multiple formats, including graphic novels and non-fiction books

Winners of the Sakura Medal are awarded a certificate, a medal, and an original piece of art. We have modeled this after the Nobel Prize. The original art work is selected from a student art competition; an example of a past year's competition can be seen here.

Please follow us on Twitter or contact us at schoollibrariansjapan@gmail.com.

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