On 6 July 2026, as part of the JICA FRIENDSHIP 2.0 Project , Assistant Professor Ankita Roy and Master’s student MS Naomi Rajwanshi from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad visited Japan and held a joint seminar with Kudo Laboratory.

Day 01　

First-year Master’s student, Naomi Rajwanshi

“Introducing Japanese Culture to Young Learners (Age 9–14) through Innovative Book Design and Augmented Reality”

Naomi has a keen interest in Japanese culture (food, history, festivals, architecture, the Japanese mindset, etiquette, cleanliness, etc.) and is conducting research into picture books utilising augmented reality (AR) to convey this to children aged 9–14 in India. During the discussion, we Japanese were asked, ‘What do we want to convey?’ It also provided an opportunity for us to recognise the value of Japanese culture—something we do not usually give much thought to.

Day 02

Students from Kudo Laboratory also presented their own research; they received questions and feedback from Assistant Professor Ankita and Naomi, and were able to discuss the current situation in India, making it a highly rewarding experience.

Whilst Japan and India share similarities as well as stark contrasts—which often took me by surprise—the most significant difference lay in the uniformity and diversity of language. It seems that pictograms and Sign Design—Kudo Laboratory’s area of specialisation—could be studied from a different perspective in India.

Second-year Master’s student, Sakuka Okabe

”Relationship Between Eye Movements and Comprehension of Communication Symbols”

Third-year Doctral student, Chisato Kaneko

”Visual Communication Design in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings: Findings from a Nationwide Survey of ECEC Facilities in Japan”

First-year Master’s student, Sayoko Harada

”Research on Public Signage that is easy for foreign residents to understand”

It was a very enriching two days, full of learning and new discoveries.

I hope to continue fostering friendly relations with India in the future.

I would like to express my gratitude once again to Professor Masakazu Tani (former Director of the Faculty of Design, Kyushu University) for bringing me into contact with Assistant Professor Ankita.

Additional note: By a curious twist of fate, Assistant Professor Ankita is a former student of Professor Mandar Rane of the Symbol Group. I met Mandar at the same session during Symbol’22 in 2022, and was subsequently introduced to Assistant Professor Ankita by Professor Tani. I am truly grateful for the shared interest in the same field of research—the theme of ‘Symbol’—and for the connections it has forged with the wider world！