Okayama City was designated as a city of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network!

On October 31, 2024, Okayama City was designated as city of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Literature by UNESCO. Okayama became the first City of Literature in Japan.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is an international network of cities with creativity to promote the development of local creative industries and sustainable urban development. The cities utilize the network to exchange knowledge and experience, develop human resources and cooperate on programmes.

The UCCN covers seven creative fields: Literature, Film, Music, Design, Gastronomy, Media Arts and Crafts & Folk arts. 10 cities in Japan have been designated in the six fields except for Literature.

55 cities, including Okayama City, were designated as new cites of the network. The total number of UCCN became 350.

Okayama City possesses various resources related to literature, particularly children's literature. The Joji Tsubota Literary Award and Citizens' Fairy Tal Award are the core activities of the City. A variety of stakeholders cooperate together to organise the Okayama Literature Festival and other initiatives.

The purpose of this application is to promote these excellent initiatives, to provide experiences of diverse cultures and cultural stimulation through international exchanges. The application was submitted to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in June and the City got a recommendation for UNESCO.

February 23, 2024 Award Ceremony for the Joji Tsubota Literary Award and a lecture by Hiroyuki Itsuki are scheduled. A commemorative event for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network designation is also scheduled.

• The logo mark was newly created to  promote the activities of City of Literature Okayama.
• The logo mark was designed to evoke the image of Okayama and Literature at a glance, incorporating an open book, a bookmark string. It can be seen as a peach. The design will be used on the “Literature Creation City Okayama” website and in other publications.