Sakura Medal 2005-2006

The Sakura Medal is a new reading program designed to encourage reading and enjoyment of good quality books. It is being initiated in the 2005-2006 school year for students in participating International Schools across Japan. Students will read books from short lists prepared by library media specialists in the participating schools and vote in April 2006 for a winner. The winning author will receive the Sakura medal and a book containing student reviews from the different schools. There will be a student art competition for the design of the cover of the review book..
The participating schools this year are The American School in Japan (ASIJ, Tokyo), Yokohama International School (YIS, Tokyo), International School of the Sacred Heart (ISSH, Tokyo), British School in Tokyo (BST, Tokyo), Canadian Academy (CA, Kobe), Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ, Tokyo), Nagoya International School (NIS, Nagoya), Nishimachi International School (NIS, Tokyo), St. Mary’s International School (Tokyo), Osaka International School (OIS, Osaka), Seisen International School (Tokyo)
There will be five separate categories: Picture Books (25 titles), Upper Elementary Level Chapter Books (31 titles), Middle School / High School (24 titles), Japanese language Elementary Level Books and Japanese Language Middle and High School Books.

The award for a book on the MS/HS level in the English language will be chosen by students at ISSH, ASIJ, St. Mary’s, and CAJ. The award for an HS level book in the Japanese language will be chosen by students at ASIJ.
Students who choose to participate will read at least five (5) of the 24 nominated books and will vote for their favorite. The vote will take place in the HS and MS Libraries on on Friday, April 21st. As soon as the votes from all the schools are counted, the winning authors will be announced and be awarded the Sakura Medal.
The books selected for reading in the Sakura Medal are chosen from those which have won awards, are critically acclaimed and which provide excellence, enjoyment and challenge in the reading experience. Themes and subjects covered in the list are varied to suit different reading tastes and levels, from Fantasy to Realistic Fiction.
The most important aspect of this program is that it encourages students to read quality books for fun. Although designed and initiated by teacher-librarians, this program is intended to involve all participants in the educational community: classroom teachers, administrators, librarians, and of course parents.

The Sakura Medal was started by a group of teacher librarians from International Schools in Japan. A list of fiction books was chosen from books published in the last three years.
Criteria for selection also included books by international authors, originality, literary quality, interest and appeal. The name of the award originates from the Japanese word for Cherry Blossom, "Sakura", which has long held a special place in Japanese life and culture.
The culmination of the program will be in the spring of next year when students vote for their favorite book.

The program will begin on December 5^th
- The Japanese part of the program will begin after the holiday break.
Participation in the program is voluntary.
Students will be given the list of books and may borrow copies specially reserved in the library, from other libraries, or their own copies if they have them.
Students must read at least 5 books from the list to participate in the voting at the end of the program (Friday April 21st).
Students will fill out a short book review form which will be kept in the library so they can be referred to when it is time to vote.

In early 2006 there will be an art competition between the international school students to design a cover for the book of student reviews which will be given to the winning author.

Please see Mr. Swist in the Middle School Library or Mrs. Hayakawa in the High School Library if you would like to participate!