Over 2,000 Visitors in Two Weeks: "Onomatopoeia Prescription Exhibition" Now Open

The " Onomatopoeia Prescription Exhibition " (hosted by ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO ), an exhibition where visitors can experience onomatopoeia that solves social and everyday challenges toward achieving the SDGs, is being held at the ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO GALLERY in Aoyama, Tokyo. The exhibition runs until Monday, July 15 (a national holiday).

Since opening on Monday, April 1, the exhibition has welcomed over 2,000 visitors in just over two weeks and is proving very popular.

Onomatopoeia is a collective term for words that represent physical sounds, like "meow meow" or "thump thump," and mimetic words that express states or emotions not accompanied by actual sound, such as "sparkle sparkle" or "thrill thrill." Japan is known as an "onomatopoeia superpower," boasting one of the world's largest repertoires of these words. In recent years, they have begun to be utilized in various societal contexts. For instance, in medical settings, they serve as a means for patients to communicate pain to doctors. They also enhance the enjoyment of sports events for individuals with hearing impairments.

The "Onomatopoeia Prescription Exhibition" sheds light on the practical nature of onomatopoeia—often perceived as childish—as "useful words applicable in society," offering an opportunity to rethink onomatopoeia. Conceptualized as a pharmacy, it "prescribes" onomatopoeia to address communication challenges in various scenarios like parent-child interactions, sports, healthcare, friendships, business, and social media. This allows visitors of all ages to enjoyably learn about the practicality of onomatopoeia. Overall supervision is provided by Mutsumi Imai and Kimi Akita, authors of books on onomatopoeia who won the 2024 Shinsho Grand Prize.

[Overview]
Organizer: ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO
Period: April 1 (Mon) - July 15 (Mon, Holiday)
Venue: ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO GALLERY
(Itochu Garden B1, 2-3-1 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Free
Hours: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Closed: Mondays ※If Monday is a holiday, closed the following business day
General Supervision: Dr. Mutsumi Imai, Dr. Kimi Akita
Medical Supervision: Dr. Yuko Takeda, Dr. Kazunari Iwata
 

【Exhibition Contents】

■Experience Booths

①Touchable Onomatopoeia
A corner where you can experience onomatopoeia using your five senses by actually touching and smelling objects.

② Parent Onomatopoeia
Introduces onomatopoeia that makes conveying intentions to children easier and aids parent-child communication.

③ Body Onomatopoeia
Introduces onomatopoeia that helps children effectively describe symptoms when feeling unwell or experiencing physical discomfort, using a human body model.

④ Sports Onomatopoeia
A section where you can actually test the effectiveness of onomatopoeia during physical measurements like grip strength, jump height, and sit-and-reach.

⑤ New Drug Onomatopoeia
Introduces experimental onomatopoeia usage in various scenarios like friendships, business, and SNS, likening them to "new drugs."

⑥ My Prescription
A corner encouraging self-reflection by visualizing your inner thoughts using onomatopoeia stamps.

(From left) Touch-and-Smell Matope, Papa-Mama Matope

(From left) Body Matope, Spo Matope

(From left) New Drug Matope, My Prescription

■Learning Booth

① Learning Matope
A discussion corner featuring Dr. Mutsumi Imai, overall supervisor of the Onomatopoeia Prescription Exhibition, and Dr. Kimi Akita. The professors discuss "Onomatopoeia," "The Relationship Between Onomatopoeia and Children's Language Acquisition," "Characteristics of Human Language Acquisition," and "Interesting Themes in Onomatopoeia."

② Case Study Matope
A corner where you can learn about the practicality of onomatopoeia through examples already used in society.

■Details on the "Onomatopoeia Prescription Exhibition" can be found here.