AI and Yokai open the door to children's hearts - Parents and children work together on the "modern Yokai Post" project

The “invisible presence” in children’s hearts

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about this: "Do children now feel like it's okay to be themselves?"

In today's society, there are so many "do this" and "don't do that" instructions that before you know it, your inner child is being suppressed. But that's really painful.

Darkness Classroom: A workshop to face the darkness

So why not borrow the power of the yokai? With that in mind, for the past few years I have been running a workshop called "Kurayami Classroom."

Parents and children enter a pitch black space and feel the darkness. After that, they are asked to draw the scary or unpleasant things about themselves as "monsters." The children then begin to draw "something" inside themselves with complete freedom. The parents then watch them, quietly but surely.

What's great about this experience is that it makes you think, "It's okay if there are scary things inside of me." What's more, the amazing thing about yokai is that you can share that experience as a "story."

Kodama x Yokai Post Project Launched

Now, they are about to take a step further with the "Yokai Post x AI" concept.

Parents can send their child a picture of a monster along with a letter via Google Forms, with assistance from the parent. The AI will then interpret the monster, illustrate its "true form," and send it back along with a letter from the Yokai Shop.

Dialogue between parent and child through yokai

Children will feel that "someone has really taken an interest in the yokai they drew," and it will also be an opportunity for parents to realize, "My child has these feelings."

The story continues - Diary and growth log

In the future, we would like to develop a "Home Yokai Diary" that allows you to continually raise your yokai, a yokai growth log where you can report when a "new yokai was born!", and even follow-up letters from the yokai shop.

Although this Yokai Post is just a game, it certainly leads to "narrative retelling of the heart." When children connect with their inner child, they will surely think, "This is good."

Finally, give a name to the monster inside you.

So why not give a name to the monster inside you?