Adorable: A chubby-cheeked Japanese girl has brought an adorable twist to photographer Kotori Kawashima's exhibition of new work on show at the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in downtown Ha Noi.

HA NOI (VNS)— A chubby Japanese toddler is the unlikely star of a new photo exhibition on display at the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in downtown Ha Noi, which aims to give locals a unique insight into Japanese culture.

Titled Mirai-chan: A little Girl with Chubby Red Cheeks, the exhibition by photographer Kotori Kawashima features images of a two-year-old girl living on Sado Island in the northern central region of Japan going through her daily routines.

Three years ago, Kawashima decided to carry out a project featuring a child in rural Japan. He visited his friend's house on the island and found the friend's daughter to be a promising model. Thereafter, Kawashima spent one week every month living with her family and took photos of her every move.

"It was extremely hard to take pictures of such an active child," he recalled. "She kept disappearing from my lens as I was ready to shoot. The only times I could take photos easily was when she fell asleep."

The titular "Mirai" means "future" in Japanese, while "chan" is a Japanese suffix added to the end of one's name when addressing them in a friendly manner.

The adorable girl's real name is not "Mirai" though - the photography series "Mira-chan" is not a documentary but is created from Kawashima's conceptual idea.

Kawashima thinks the girl in the photography series possesses a loveable human nature which is universal.

"You can see her express the most natural feelings and beauty, without any posing like an adult would," he said. "Through the pictures, I also want to send messages about the future in the midst of the beautifully changing four seasons and Japanese traditional culture passed through generations on Sado Island."

Journalist photographer Tran Viet Van noted the collection was very simple and beautiful, making excellent use of natural light sources.

"The photographer chose a shooting angle at the same height as the little girl, which reveals the respect of the photographer to the little model as well as the close relationship they established," Van said.

"The collection is special in the way it expresses the beauty of nature on Sado Island and the locals' traditional culture as evidenced by the house the girl lived in, which is more than 100 years old."

"I watched the girl when she was two years old and when she reached three, she started to talk," Kawashima said. "She also reminds me of my childhood."

The photography book has sold over 100,000 copies since its release in March 2011. The collection has since been displayed in several cities including Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, before being exhibited in Thailand, Chinese Taiwan and now Viet Nam.

The exhibition is free and runs until September 15 at 27 Quang Trung Street.

Kawashima works and lives in Tokyo, having graduated from the Department of French Literature, School of Letters, Arts and Science, Waseda University.

In 2011, he received the 42nd Publishing Culture Prize by Kodansha for Photography for the "Mirai-chan" project. Recently, he has been mainly shooting portraits, while taking photographs for books, magazines and CD covers. — VNS