Japan
(Romanization according to the
international Hepburn norms)
1
Abe,
Hiroshi (text/illus.)
Ezo okami monogatari (The story of the Hokkaido wolves)
Tokyo: Kodansha, 2008. – [34] p.
(Kodansha no sosaku ehon)
ISBN 978-4-06-132386-5
Hokkaido – Wolf – Extinction – Ecosystem
The wolf’s gaze in the cover picture betrays his great pride. He asserts
himself, yet is at the same time in distress. Hiroshi Abe, currently the
best-known illustrator of animal stories in Japan, lets an owl describe the
fate of the wolves who died out on the island of Hokkaido a century ago. The
Hokkaido wolves lived once in harmo-ny with the aboriginal peoples, the
Ainu, until they were systematically exterminated by the new settlers from
Honshu. Since then, the deer multiply without resistance, which now is
causing a new problem. The expressive pictures of the wild animals, as well
as of the mountains and forests in the bracing cold of winter and the lush
green of summer through which the wolves dart like white shadows, make clear
to the reader the necessity of a balanced ecosystem. (6+)
2
Hasegawa, Setsuko (text)
Ito, Hideo (illus.)
Hanasakaji (The old man that lets a bare tree blossom)
Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2008. – [36] p.
(Te no hira mukashibanashi)
ISBN 978-4-00-116384-1
Old age – Thankfulness – Riches – Greed – Fairytale
The series »Folktales in the palm of your hand«, started in 2004 and already
15 titles strong, is developing into a bibliophilic collection, thanks to
its excellent conception. The volumes are in small format (ca. 14x18 cm) and
carefully designed. Each cover is framed with Japan paper in different
traditional patterns, and the endpapers are decorated in various basic tones
with matching pictures. For the tales themselves, well-known illustrators,
such as Ryoji Arai and Masako Nagasawa, or, for this volume, Hideo Ito,
vividly present human beings living with animals, deities, ghosts, and
demons, as well as in healthy relation to nature. Despite varying drawing
styles and techniques, the peculiarity and atmosphere of the world of
Japanese folktales always shine through. The expressive pictorial
compositions create an intense looking and read-ing experience. The author,
Setsuko Hasegawa, also tries to stay true to the orally transmitted
narrative style, despite the shortened version of the folktales. (5+)
3
Hasegawa, Yoshifumi (text/illus.)
Tengoku no otochan (To Dad in heaven)
Tokyo: Kodansha, 2008. – [33] p.
(Kodansha no sosaku ehon)
ISBN 978-4-06-132387-2
Son – Father – Death – Memory – Compassion
»Dear honoured papa, how are things in heaven?« This is how the
nine-year-old boy begins his very polite silent letter to his deceased
father. He reports that his mother, sister, and he are doing well, even
though they now are only three. Then he remembers the good experiences he
had with his father and regrets, in his childlike way, that he did not play
his father’s favourite ball game with him more often. While Yoshifumi
Hasegawa primarily treats the loss and pain brought on by a death, he
humorously shows compassion for the dead from the viewpoint of a child on
the one hand and for those loved ones left behind on the other. The
expressive pictures are full of emotion and convey the loss of life, but
also the confidence in life in a realistic manner. (5+)
4
Hirose, Hisako (text)
Sasameya, Yuki (illus.)
Bokura wa »Komori ana« o nukete (Through the cave of the bats)
Tokyo: Akane Shobo, 2007. – 129 p.
(Akane shin yomimono shirizu; 24)
ISBN 978-4-251-04154-8
Mother – Death – Mourning – River – Afterlife
After the death of his mother, Tsubasa is taken into the family of his
cousin Ayumu, who is one year older than he. There he makes new school
friends and also plays in the soccer club. Out of sympathy, nine-year-old
Ayumu, from whose perspective the story is told, treats him carefully, but
wonders about his calm. One day, he shows Tsubasa his secret hiding place,
the bat cave. There they discover a crack between the rocks into the open,
via which they reach a river. When they cross the river, they experience a
wondrous encounter with Tsubasa’s mother. Ayumu increasingly understands how
much Tsubasa misses his mother. His innermost wish is to continue everyday
life with his mother present. The grief of the child is rendered very
insightfully by the narrator. (9+)
(55th Sankei Award for Children’s Books & Publications; 2008)
5
Honda, Akira
Sachiko no niwa (Sachiko’s garden)
Tokyo: Komine Shoten, 2007. – 250 p.
(Y. A. Books)
ISBN 978-4-338-14420-9
Family – Generation – Garden – Gardener – Vitality – Culture
Sachiko’s great-grandfather once carefully planted the garden. Now the visit
of her great-grandmother is announced – probably the last one due to her old
age – and this is why the garden, which Sachiko’s parents have not taken
care of, must be fixed up again. The restoration of the overgrown garden by
two young gardeners transforms the people, too. Sachiko, who refuses to go
to school, becomes lively and active again. Her mother, too, finds new
optimism. In this way, a meeting of four generations takes place. Lively and
competently, the author describes the fascinating working method of the
gardeners, so that the reader, sharing the wonder and excitement, can bear
witness to Japanese garden culture. The description of the craftsman spirit
and of a gardener’s personal cultivation is a sustaining element of the
story. (12+)
(Sankei Shimbun Award; 2008. 48th Japanese Association of Writers for
Children Prize for new Authors; 2008)
6
Imae, Yoshitomo (text)
Tashima, Seizo (illus.)
Hige ga aroga nakaroga (Whether with or without a beard)
Osaka: Kaiho Shuppansha, 2008. – 639 p.
ISBN 978-4-7592-5031-2
Minority – Discrimination – Survival – Resistance – Growing up –
Japan/History
Deep in the mountains, hidden beyond a castle village, young Take lives with
his father. He learns to hunt and swim from him. Sometimes his mother
visits, and foreigners also appear who possess knowledge and abilities that
enable them to stay with the two for a while. Where do they come from and
where are they going? Why must Take and his father change their hiding
place? Who is looking for them? The masterfully told story about the young
hero’s growing up is dramatic and filled with riddles. The author vividly
describes the status and the life of underprivileged populations in the
feudalistic Edo period. The earlier published prequel, out of print since
1971, is reprinted in the book. The annexed commentary on
the discrimination of minority groups is also very worth reading.
(14+)
7
Iwai, Toshio (text/illus.)
100-kaidate no ie (The 100-storey house)
Tokyo: Kaiseisha, 2008. – [34] p.
ISBN 978-4-03-331540-9
High-rise – Animals – Lifeworld
The media artist Toshio Iwai has created an original, amus-ing picture book
in portrait format about a 100-storey house, where every ten storeys are
populated by ten dif-ferent animal species respectively. A boy, who received
an invitation to visit from someone who lives in the top storey, enters the
unfamiliar house in the forest and climbs the stairs. With every page turn,
the observer passes through ten storeys and is surprised by the funny,
imaginative scenes of the animals and their quirks, which the artist
playfully portrays in highly detailed cross-section views. In the end, the
boy reaches the top floor, the observatory, where the spider prince receives
him cordially. With a highly engineered lift that mimics a spider’s style,
he makes it back down and from there goes back home.
(4+)
8
Iwase, Joko
Sono nukumori wa kienai (The warmth that does not diminish)
Tokyo: Kaiseisha, 2007. – 285 p.
ISBN 978-4-03-643040-6
Friendship – Self-assertion – Old age – Time travel
Because Nami does not know how to express her feelings and thoughts properly,
she cannot assert herself with her prudent mother and at school. One day,
while in the house of an old lady, she encounters the strange boy Asao, whom
only she sees. Soon it turns out that he comes from an-other time and now
appears to her as a child. Thus the two childhoods of two people of
different times cross paths. They like each other, and through the
friendship Nami becomes increasingly independent, confident and happy. Joko
Iwase tells a multi-layered story, in which the realis-tic and the
fantastical are ingeniously woven together in different themes, such as
aging, care for the aging, the mother-child relationship over three
generations, and the almost therapeutic love of a dog. (12+)
(48th Japanese Association of Writers for Children Prize; 2008)
9
Kubota, Kaori (text)
Iino, Kazuyoshi (illus.)
Koriishi (The ice stone)
Tokyo: Kumon Shuppan, 2008. – 299 p.
ISBN 978-4-7743-1363-4
Japan/737 – Survival – Love – Talisman
In excavations in the old imperial city of Nara, archaeologists were amazed
to find numerous inscribed strips of wood from the eighth century, used at
that time in lieu of paper as writing material. This gripping historical
novel was inspired by this find. After the death of his mother,
fourteen-year-old Chihiro is neglected. He hates his father, who went to
China and for years has sent no word. When an epidemic rages in Nara, the
boy even becomes a swindler in order to survive. Only after encountering a
monk and the orphan girl Sukuna does he change. Then, with Sukuna’s help, he
sells strips of wood with his calligraphy as talismans. Interacting with
honest people, Chihiro
gradually finds himself and enjoys prospects of a better future with Sukuna.
(12+)
10
Matsui, Susan (text)
Suzuki, Koji (illus.)
Tabinezumi (The traveling vole)
Tokyo: Kin no hoshisha, 2007. – 108 p.
ISBN 978-4-323-07093-3
Self-discovery – experience – Sense of security
The American children’s book author who writes her stories in Japanese and
advocates for the individuality of the child, this time takes on both the
kind of self-challeng-ing that enriches life and the feeling of security
that gives the child grounding. A boy vole is quite distraught be-cause the
plants that grow in spring have utterly torn up his wonderfully winter-tight
housing. But eventually the power of nature opens even his eyes and lets him
recognize his own self-sufficiency. He then wants to experience something
new and sets out on a wandering. The world is open to him, yet still much
will happen before he finally finds his true home. This timeless story is
illustrated in a lively and exciting way in green and black drawings by Koji
Suzuki.
(9+)
11
Miura, Taro (text/illus.)
Watashi no (Mine)
Tokyo: Kogumasha, 2007. – [24] p.
ISBN 978-4-7721-0189-9
Toddler– Everyday object – Property – Self-awareness
Three chairs, three rice bowls, three tooth brushes, three pairs of shoes,
fruit... which of these belong to the little girl? Of course, she knows
exactly which is papa’s, mama’s or hers, and she is happy and proud of her
things. Every family, and already perhaps the toddlers who interact with
this little picture book, are familiar with such expe-riences. In everyday
life, it is fun for children to confirm what belongs to them, just as they
also know how to differentiate objects and arrangements. This is all part of
developing self-awareness. Following on his successful picture book for
babies, »Kuttsuita» (You and I, skin to skin!), Taro Miura here just as
aptly shows a child in another stage of development. The addressees of the
book clearly in view, he accomplishes this using few words and pictorial
elements.
(2+)
12
Nakai, Toshimi
Nagai Takashi. Heiwa o inori ai ni ikita ishi (Takashi Nagai. The doctor
who prayed for peace and lived altruistically)
Tokyo: Doshinsha, 2007. – 175 p.
ISBN 978-4-494-02238-0
Nagai, Takashi – Japan/History – Doctor – Atomic bomb drop – Altruism –
Peace
The life of Dr. Takashi Nagai from Nagasaki (1908-1951) was founded on
Christian and humane ideals. He contracted leukaemia from his work as a
radiologist and later the atomic bomb drop of 1945. Despite this, he worked
selflessly for suffering people, peace, and the life of his children. In the
last stage of his illness, he could only write. In five years, he wrote
seventeen books warning of atom-ic weapons and war; the best known is »The
Bells of Nagasaki». From the royalties, he supported the reconstruction of
the city and opened a children’s library. Respected at home and abroad, he
received many readers’ letters as well as a visit from Helen Keller and a
special envoy of the Pope. In this biography, which includes numerous photos
from Nagai’s youth, Toshimi Nakai conveys a convincing portrait of this
unusual man. (11+)
13
Takadono, Hoko (text)
Hirasawa, Tomoko (illus.)
Midori no moyoga (The green picture)
Tokyo: Fukuinkan Shoten, 2007. – 378 p.
(Fukuinkan sosaku dowa shirizu)
ISBN 978-4-8340-2289-6
Friendship – Secret – Life – Time
Since Mayuko, Teto, and Mai met each other at boarding school, they spend
their free time together. One day, they meet a young man and other people
similar to him, who puzzle them. An unfamiliar older gentleman, shadows in
the house with the tower, and an old rumour circulating at the boarding
school also cause excitement. The heart-warming friendship of the girls is
finely interwoven with the mysterious events and the pasts of other people.
The favourite book of the three girls, Frances H. Burnett’s »A little
princess», resonates throughout the novel and, in spite of one person’s
tragic fate, happily connects all the novel’s characters with each other.
This special book for girls is full of character, very lively, and told on a
sophisticated literary level. (12+)
14
Tsuchiya, Fujio (text/illus.)
Sore ike! Omocha daisakusen (Chase the toy dragon!)
Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 2008. – [32] p.
(BFC)
ISBN 978-4-19-862493-4
Toy – Search – Adventure – Fantasy
Shochan is very excited about the puzzle. His picture is almost finished.
There is only one piece missing. While he searches in his room, he finds a
lot of forgotten toys under his bed. A robot informs him that the missing
puzzle piece was pilfered by the stuffed dragon. With the help of jumbo jets
and other helpers, the search begins. Every toy is delighted to be in
contact with the boy again. The dynamic pictures and fast-paced text
perfectly convey how energetically every toy puts itself into action for the
adventure-filled search, which goes far out into the world. The changing
perspectives and the pictorial compositions that spread across and beyond
the pages speak directly to the readers and lead them into the realm of
childhood fantasy. (5+)
15
Yumoto, Kazumi (text)
Sakai, Komako (illus.)
Kuma to yamaneko (The bear and the lynx)
Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2008. – [50] p.
ISBN 978-4-309-27004-4
Death – Loss – Time – Friendship – Life – Confidence
The bear has lost his friend the bird through death. Depressed by this
event, he turns away from the forest animals and holes himself up in his
dwelling. He needs a lot of time before he finds himself again. Outside in
the fresh idyll, he meets a lynx who is a travelling musician, and the bear
starts a new life accompanying him. Fairy-tale-like and gently, Kazumi
Yumoto writes about loss and recovery, as well as about the healing power of
time. Komako Sakai interprets the story very poetically with intense
black-and-white pictures. Only when the bear recalls the happy times spent
with the bird and when his con-fidence in his future sprouts, do the
pictures symbolically light up in subtle colouring. An appealing picture
book for adult readers, too. (5+)