Canon New Children’s Book Has Aliens Explaining Why Cameras Are Awesome

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Canon New Children’s Book Has Aliens Explaining Why Cameras Are Awesome


Colorful cartoon space scene with aliens, a bus, a robot, two children in star outfits holding hands, and Japanese text, set against a starry background.

Canon Inc. in Japan has published “The Secret of Canon Star,” which Canon describes as a “company introduction booklet for children.” It’s bizarre.

Spotted by DC.Watch, “The Secret of Canon Star” is available on Canon Inc.’s website as PDF files for viewing or printing. The 11- or 20-page booklet, depending on which version is downloaded, is designed for children in third through sixth grade and includes bright, colorful illustrations, interactive experiences like spotting differences between similar images, and plenty of explanations of why Canon’s technology is so exciting.

Colorful cartoon scene with children and friendly aliens in clear bubbles on a whimsical planet, surrounded by floating spaceships, speech bubbles with Japanese text, and playful icons. A large sign stands in the center with more Japanese writing.

Colorful, whimsical illustration of a fantasy planet with cute animal characters, trees, houses, and paths. Japanese text and playful scenery create a lively, welcoming atmosphere. Cartoon people and animals interact throughout.

“The Secret of Canon Star” is, at its core, a narrative, generally educational look at Canon’s technologies, including explanations about what Canon does, what sort of company it is, and its core values.

Canon invites a pair of school children to hop on a spaceship and fly to Canon’s planet, where various types of aliens either use Canon products or are themselves anthropomorphic versions of things Canon makes.

Colorful cartoon scene with children and friendly aliens in clear bubbles on a whimsical planet, surrounded by floating spaceships, speech bubbles with Japanese text, and playful icons. A large sign stands in the center with more Japanese writing.

Cartoon characters, including a large blue, one-eyed alien and smaller pink and yellow figures, interact on a lined background with Japanese text in speech bubbles. Two other characters stand in the lower left corner, looking upward.

Cartoon characters use a colorful, caterpillar-shaped printer that prints many pages. Some characters collect sheets, while two discuss the printer's fast speed. The scene is playful and lively, with Japanese text throughout.

A cartoon scene shows a camera character taking a photo of a figure on a red vehicle. The second panel shows the same scene with slight differences after a red arrow.

For example, there’s a walking, talking camera that has a lens for a face. There’s a caterpillar that’s also part printer, complete with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black “ink” on its head. There’s a page dedicated to CT machines, including a brain scan, which is apparently something a 10-year-old would be interested in. There’s a big MRI machine with eyes and six arms that other, smaller aliens go inside to get checked out.

On planet Canon, the two kids from Earth learn that Canon uses robots in its factories to produce cameras, semiconductors, image sensors, and lenses. These cameras can do all sorts of things, from photographing microscopic things inside the human body to stars and galaxies in space.

A comic strip shows a purple, octopus-like character explaining camera settings (shutter speed, ISO, aperture) to a girl, with illustrations for each term and Japanese text throughout.

The story explains that lenses collect light and focus it onto a CMOS image sensor, where the light is measured and converted into an electrical signal, which can then be displayed as a digital photo.

Three photos: a blurred dog running, an airplane in focus, and a bird in focus on a branch. A cartoon character comments in Japanese about a camera's smart autofocus. Page number 07 is shown.

As “The Secret of Canon Star” explains, Canon’s cameras can track and focus on moving subjects and capture clear photos, even in challenging conditions.

Two cartoon children in a UFO wave at colorful, friendly alien creatures. Japanese speech bubbles are shown, and the background features planets, stars, and playful, bright cosmic designs.

Admittedly, that is exciting, but it is quite strange to see information presented like this.

The next time Springfield’s resident gossip and worrywart asks, “Won’t someone think of the children?” Canon can definitely say “Yes.”

Image creditsCanon