Next time you read a sign, write your name or do simple mathematics, spare a thought for the 860 million people worldwide who do not have these skills. Some 113 million of these are children who because of poverty, armed conflicts, poor access to schools and other reasons do not receive any education at all.
  As part of its efforts to promote world literacy, Mitsubishi launched its first Mitsubishi Impression-Gallery Festival of Asian Children's Art in 1990 in honor of the United Nations' International Literacy Year. The festival invites children from all over Asia to contribute short, illustrated diaries that capture their respective local cultures. The very best contributions are made into local-language textbooks and distributed in the participating countries and regions.
  Since the first festival in 1990–1991, the project has received over 320,000 imaginative contributions. Children aged 6 to 12 use a traditional Japanese essay form called enikki, in which a drawing depicting events and thoughts is positioned above a short text. This is an excellent format for teaching reading, as it both facilitates the understanding of the text itself and helps the children envision life in other countries, thereby stimulating imagination, discussion and mutual understanding. The festival also helps heighten awareness of the importance of education in homes and communities.

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