The display of pictures drawn by children is one of the most popular exhibits of ANMC21 Exhibition which is held concurrent to the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21) Plenary Meeting every year. The pictures shown in the exhibition is painted by children from ANMC21 member cities based on a common theme. This year also, at the ANMC21 Exhibition held in Hanoi, visitors enjoyed the colorful pictures painted by children. Furthermore, so as to introduce these pictures to a wide audience in Tokyo as well, the "Exhibition of Pictures Drawn by Children in Asia" was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) Building.

The theme for this year was "The Future City and Life in 100 years time". In ANMC21, with the aim of achieving even better lifestyles, the member cities cooperate with each other to work on shared issues such as waste management, environment and urban planning. The pictures tell us a great deal about what the children living at these member cities hope in the future. In seeing robots being used in everyday life and cities that existed in harmony with nature, it is apparent that the children not only understand issues currently confronting major cities, rather have their own ideas with respect to resolving such issues through childlike imaginations.
Furthermore, it is surprising that although all the pictures were based on the same theme, the color schemes and methods of expression differed greatly among the different cities. For example, among the artworks of children from Manila, Singapore, Hanoi and Jakarta, there were numerous pictures that made use of vivid colors. By contrast, it seemed that many of the pictures from Tokyo and Tomsk utilized softer tones. Perhaps these variances were due to climatic and cultural differences.

The exhibition venue was a well-known tourist spot, a 45th floor observation deck of the TMG Building where visitors can enjoy A 360° panorama of Tokyo. This location was an ideal spot to introduce the children's artwork because it is not just visited by Tokyo residents, it also attracts many tourists from other areas of Japan and also overseas.
From the first day of the exhibition, it seemed that the colorful pictures caught the attention of visitors. From the outset, many people were stopped in their tracks, and they looked closely at the pictures. Among these, there were some very happy tourists who found pictures painted by children from their place. On the second and third days as well, many people visited the observation deck and enjoyed the exhibition.

At this point we would like to offer some of the comments of visitors who saw the children's artwork.

• "It is interesting that the atmosphere of the pictures seems to vary by individual city."
• "The pictures done by the children seem to possess dreams, and make me feel invigorated".
• "I was very surprised that we were able to see pictures that were created by children in our city here in Tokyo. Furthermore, I felt happy when I found out about the cooperative relationship that exists between Tokyo and my city."

Visitors gave questions and comments not just with regard to the pictures, but also with regard to the activities of ANMC21 and member cities. The exhibition on this occasion represented a great opportunity to introduce ANMC21. Finally, we would like to offer our deepest gratitude to the 81 children who submitted artwork on this occasion and the staff members from the ANMC21 member cities who cooperated in collecting the artwork together.