Young Japanese artists turn school blackboards into a hit medium for creativity

KUMAGAYA, Japan (AP) — The humble blackboard is serving as the canvas, and colorful chalk the paint, for young Japanese artists.

“Kokuban Art Koshien " is an annual national chalk art championship for high school students. Combining the word for “blackboard” ("kokuban") and the famous stadium where high school baseball is contested, the contest attracts artworks, all drawn on blackboards, usually over summer break, from about 300 high schools and junior high schools.

Each work — many dazzling in their artistry and often dreamlike themes — is a collaborative endeavor bringing together anywhere from one or two youngsters to dozens, all delivering a lesson in creativity and teamwork.

The images range from energetic depictions of dinosaurs, dogs and whales; popular manga scenes; Hokusai ’s Mount Fuji or the Mona Lisa, as well as slices of everyday life, except they aren’t all that everyday, such as an underwater classroom.

Some works even show a person writing on a blackboard.

Kazunari Minamishima, an art teacher at the Saitama Prefectural High School of the Arts, whose students have taken part in the contest, believes it appeals to students because it offers the chance to be more experimental than established forms of art, such as oil painting and sculpture.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he said.

The contest began in 2015 by Nichigaku Co., a Tokyo-based blackboard maker. The annual judging is done by examining the photos of the works, given that the medium, blackboards, can’t be moved easily. The winners will be announced in November.

The use of blackboards for creating artworks existed before in the Japanese school system. It was a stunning replica of Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” by an unknown artist on a school blackboard that caught Nichigaku’s eye.

“Back then, there was graffiti, but there was no genre called blackboard art,” said Nichigaku President Tomohiro Yoshida.

The contest doesn’t really work as a direct marketing tool because schools already have blackboards. But some contestants become professional artists later, Yoshida added proudly.

Chalk powder gets scattered over the blackboard for an almost stardust effect. Smudging with fingers and tissue paper creates shadows and muted tones.

A skilled blackboard artist can depict the shiny translucence of a dragon’s eyeball. One award-winning work used chalk powder mixed in water sprayed a la Jackson Pollock.

All schools in Japan can enter the Kokuban Art Koshien contest, including international schools. Nichigaku hopes the contest can expand overseas some day.

But unlike the paint-on-walls graffiti of the West, blackboards can be erased. The students get permission from the schools to draw on the blackboards in advance, reflective of Japan’s conformist orderly culture.

“The challenge of trying to sort out the conflicting opinions of my two collaborators is the biggest memory about taking part in blackboard Koshien, as opposed to doing your own artwork,” said Kento Misumi, who took part in the contest as a high school student and now works at Nichigaku.

It’s harder than you think, and he and his friends devoted several days to one drawing, Misumi recalled, demonstrating how to draw an apple with chalk on a blackboard.

“I want young people today to go through the experience,” he said.

It was exactly the kind of brainstorming that was going on among a huddle of several students at the Kumagaya Girls' High School, north of Tokyo, in nearby Saitama Prefecture.

They were taking part in the contest for the first time, although their upper grade schoolmates have taken part and won prizes in the past.

“I see it as a chance to deepen my relationships with my schoolmates,” said Chiho Ninomiya, one of the students. “It's our first time so I'm not sure we will be able to do a good job. But even if we don't win, it'd have been worth it as long as we become better friends while doing it.”

Among the ideas discussed for this year's entries were what they called parodies or spinoffs of well-known artworks like Renoir, juxtaposed with images of high school students in their uniforms, their skirts fluttering.

A blackboard may be a longtime familiar object in classrooms. But drawing art on them with chalk is different from using paints or pencils, Ninomiya said, so they are still learning, drawing, rubbing, wiping.

It can be heartbreaking when the arduously created pieces get erased. But the artists are able to share that heartbreak with their collaborators.

Proponents say it’s a great educational tool to deliver the lesson on the impermanence of life, the fragility of creation and the courage to keep going. For when the work gets erased is the moment that the art is considered to be truly complete.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

A teacher walks down stairs near a blackboard artwork displayed on the hallway at Kumagaya Girls High School in Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, after its art club members won the first prize in a national blackboard art contest in 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

A member of the art club at Kumagaya Girls High School walks by chalk drawing designs on a blackboard at the school in Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, as they discuss their blackboard art design for its national contest. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Color chalks are placed on a desk at a classroom for the art club at Kumagaya Girls High School in Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Art teacher Makiko Aoki, right, shows chalk drawing skills to freshman members of the art club at Kumagaya Girls High School in Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo, on July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Chiho Ninomiya, from left, Kanami Murata and Karin Makishima, freshman members of the art club at Kumagaya Girls High School, discuss ideas for chalk art drawing at the school in Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, as they are part of the team participating in a national blackboard art contest. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

CHICAGO (AP) — Azzi Fudd had no idea she was the first rookie to win the WNBA All-Star 3-point contest. She put forth a stellar effort in the championship round to do it.

Fudd, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by Dallas, scored 30 points in the finals to top Portland's Bridget Carleton.

“I was shocked, that’s crazy to be the first is definitely an honor,” Fudd said of being the first rookie to win.

Fudd's 30-point effort was tied for the second-most ever, equaling Sabrina Ionescu and Allie Quigley's total. Ionescu holds the record, scoring 37 points in 2023.

Fudd hit her first six shots in the finals to get into rhythm. Carleton, from the expansion Fire, had 29 points in the opening round, but struggled in the finals, scoring 19 points.

Fresh off her victory, Fudd issued a playful request for a rematch with Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry. The two had a 3-point competition when Fudd went to his camp when she was in high school.

“I mean Steph if you’re listening, I'm asking for a rematch,” Fudd said.

The 3-point competition capped off the Friday night festivities. Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin and high schooler Jezelle Banks led team Washington to the Shooting Stars championship to tipoff the action. The trio scored 31 points to edge Seattle’s three in the finals, with Banks hitting two of the 4-point shots from just inside halfcourt to put the team over the top.

“She carried. She carried,” Austin said of Banks. “You could just tell in her energy, like as soon as we started, like it was confidence and I think that showed in how she hit those tough shots.”

In the 3-point competition, Carleton had a stellar first-round, scoring 29 points. She hit 13 of her first 16 shots. Fudd also had a great opening round, scoring 24 points. She made four of her final five shots. That carried over to the finals.

Carleton’s hot shooting in the opening round brought the crowd, which included Jayson Tatum, Russell Westbrook, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Dwyane Wade and Sheryl Swoopes, to its feet.

Other players in 3-point contest were Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, who scored 20 points, Golden State’s Janelle Salaun, who had 19 points; Toronto’s Marina Mabrey, who had 18 and Minnesota’s Natisha Heideman, who had 17.

In the Shooting Stars competition, Seattle had 24 points to finish as runner-up after missing all of the team’s 4-point shots.

This was the first year that the contest was conducted. A skills competition was done in previous All-Star weekends. The format was a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams had 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court. The competition featured shots ranging from a layup to the 4-pointer.

Washington had the highest score in the preliminary round, posting 35 points. Once again, Banks hit 4-point shots to help her team reach the championship round.

Seattle’s squad needed to beat the 20 points that the Detroit/Dallas team put up to advance to the finals. High schooler Tatianna Griffin hit two of the 4-point shots to help Seattle reach the finals. Minnesota finished in fourth with 19 points with a team of Courtney Williams, Rebbekah Brunson and Ryan Carter.

Detroit/Dallas had former Shock great Deanna Nolan, Wings All-Star Jessica Shepard and high schooler Morghan Reckley.

The new CBA gave Fudd $20,000 for winning the 3-point contest and each participant received $10,000. That’s about eight-times last season’s prize money.

Each shooting stars winner received $15,000. Each competitor, not including the high school players, will receive $7,500. Last year, the winners of the skills contest each received $2,575 from the WNBA.

In addition Aflac, like it has the past two years, gave extra money to the winners. Fudd took home $40,000 for winning the 3-point contest. Carleton received $30,000 for finishing second and Howard got $15,000 for placing third.

Team Washington got $40,000 from Aflac with Seattle receiving $32,500 and Dallas $12,500.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Dallas Wings guard Aziz Fudd walks the orange carpet during WNBA Live All-Star 2026 in Chicago, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

WNBA All Star Paige Buckers shoots during practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

WNBA All Star Angel Reese shoots during practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)