A small picture book author who lived with childhood cancer February 29th 15:57

``I want to become a picture book writer and make people around the world smile.''

While continuing treatment for childhood cancer, the girl said this dream and published the picture book ``Bead Friends'' on her 12th birthday.

As a writer, she was also preparing to share her work with the world.

However, three months later, she received a call from her mother.

``Waka persevered and became a star.''

A mother wants to make her child's dream a reality, even though she is halfway through the journey.

But she can't even turn the pages of the picture book that features her daughter's image.

For 1 year and 8 months, she watched as she faced the "continuation of her child's dream".

(Shotaro Fujimatsu, Director of Metropolitan Area Bureau)

The bed during treatment was an “atelier”

I am Onishiwaka, who made his debut as a picture book writer at the age of 12.

Waka was diagnosed with childhood cancer at the age of 4 and has been in and out of the hospital for 8 years.

The picture book ``Bead Friends'' is a story that she created while on her hospital bed based on her own experiences.

``It's drizzling, zazaza. The candy is getting stronger.

My heart in bed feels like it's dripping

with candy.'' She felt lonely spending hours alone in bed receiving treatment. Mr. Waka.

One day, I came up with a story in which various objects in a hospital room turned into fairies and spoke to me, and my imagination began to expand.

She wrote down stories about her daily life with the fairies.

Waka-san always sees the world from her hospital bed, and depicts things that she feels give her strength as colorful fairies.

For example, the ``intravenous drip'' in the hospital room.

She is like a partner in Waka's treatment, including anti-cancer treatment and blood transfusions.

Waka-san transformed this IV drip bag, which is always by her side, into a fairy.

That person is Tecchan, a kangaroo fairy.

Intravenous drips have stickers attached to them to ensure the type of medicine and patient name are correct, and the label was created because the part looked like a kangaroo's stomach pocket.

And many of the fairies are transformed from beads of different colors and shapes.

These beads are special beads that are given to Waka-san every time she survives treatment at the hospital she attended.

``Beads of Courage'' is a program developed in the United States that focuses on the various ``trials'' that children have overcome during the process of childhood cancer treatment, including surgery, anticancer drugs, and radiation therapy. ” will be represented with colorful beads and presented as a present.

The children then work together with the staff to assemble the beads into bracelets and other objects, and through repeated conversations, the children visually reflect on the many challenges they have overcome.

In the picture book, the white beads that Waka received after undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy become Ten-kun, a fairy with white wings.

The star-shaped beads she received after her surgery transform into the star fairy Kira-chan.

In the picture book, he appears as a person who gives encouragement with the magical words, "Ganbari Power!"

Waka-san himself created the original illustrations for the picture book based on fairy tales he fantasized about while spending time alone in the hospital room.

With the support of professional writers and illustrators, he published the picture book ``Bead Friends'' on April 8, 2022, which was his 12th birthday, and made his debut as a picture book author.

Waka passed away three months later.

``I have many fond memories of the time I spent next to his hospital bed,''

says Waka's mother, Yuko.

From the time she was first admitted to the hospital at the age of 4, Waka often surprised her family and medical staff by lying on her bed.

Students created and showed off their works one after another using everyday items, such as a self-made picture book made by drawing pictures on folded origami sheets, a camera made from a tissue box, and a father switch that gives commands to his father. .

Waka-san's bed has truly become an ``atelier'' as he continues to create new works every day.

Waka's mother, Yuko, said,

``There's hardly a day that I don't make something, and treatment can be difficult at times, but thanks to Waka, I have many happy memories.My family and the staff at the hospital enjoy Waka's work. Every time I was able to do something, I felt at peace.As I don't often have things in common like ``things we played together'' like my friends of the same generation, Waka has been able to talk about various things through the things we make in bed. I think it was really fun to be able to talk to people.”

When he started drawing or doing crafts, he would spend hours immersed in them, and the way he enjoyed showing them off became a ``barometer of his health'' among his family and doctors.

Yuko:

``In Waka's case, she doesn't have a big appetite, so it was difficult to gauge her health based on the way she ate, but she said things like ``I cooked a lot today'' and ``I was just watching videos today.'' ''The extent to which she was able to do the things she loved was an indicator of her health.She likes to make people happy, so if she expresses her feelings hard, everyone will smile and she will also have fun. I think that continued and led to the creation of picture books."

What is the dream you were talking about?

As an elementary school student, Waka continued to attend classes online, but she also connected with her classmates through her favorite drawings.

They took on the role of an "art director" through classroom bulletin boards and the class newspaper.

While in the hospital room, Waka was able to skillfully use a tablet and touch pen to create unique illustrations to match the content and come up with the layout of the paper and other materials on her own, creating unique bulletin boards.

Waka-san had a dream for the future that she announced at school in front of her classmates and parents.

Waka, a 3rd grade elementary school student

: ``My dream is to become a picture book author.I want to become a picture book author and make people around the world smile.''

Immediately after making his debut as a picture book writer at the age of 12, Waka-san began working toward his next goal.

This is the production of the English version.

The magical words spoken by the fairies in the picture book, ``Ganbari Power!'', are expressed as ``Believe and Be Brave!'', which I feel are the closest to the feelings of Waka-san, who believed in herself and encouraged her.

Waka created an original design for this English version of the magic words, which are important to both Waka and her family.

She carefully completed the work in her hospital room while preparing to deliver the picture book to people overseas.

A continuation of Waka's dream of "making people around the world smile."

While Yuko wants to make her wish come true, she has been conflicted for over a year.

Yuko: `

`The picture books that Waka created are so cute, and I can't turn them anymore because there's so much emotion in each page.But in my head, I keep thinking of Waka's ``World of the World.'' 'I want to make people smile.' I've always had the phrase 'I want to make people smile.' The English version was something I was working on while I was there, and I'd like to move forward with it if possible, but it's hard to move forward with it.''

Creating an English version is not simply a matter of translating Japanese into English.

I was looking forward to the task of thinking over and over again about Waka-san's feelings contained in each word, and searching for a new English spelling that had the closest nuance to that word.

Even though I decided to take the plunge and started communicating with my friends who are lending their efforts to the production of the English version, memories of Waka-san come flooding back as I turn the pages.

``Don't push yourself too hard'' `

`If you feel like it, let's move on'' Over

and over again, I had my friends call out to me, sometimes waiting for me, and one word at a time, I was weaving the words that would help the picture book cross the ocean. did.

“The crystallization of a dream” finally goes to the world

Then, last fall, Yuko was seen at a printing factory in Itabashi Ward.

The production of the English version was at a climax.

Yuko also has a picture book editor, art director, and designer by her side.

These are the professionals who created the picture book ``Bead Friends'' with Wakasan.

For over a year, I have talked with Yuko many times and supported her.

Art Director Marina Takahashi

: ``Waka-chan drew a watercolor painting. Yuko-san wants this to be the cover of the English version.''

The cover of the English version features a watercolor version of the illustration that was specially drawn by Waka.

Text newly designed by Waka-san is also woven into the sections of the booklet.

Marina Takahashi

: ``Waka-chan is the one who immediately verbalizes any questions I have about very subtle nuances.She has a clear view of the world of the fairies that she envisions, such as ``This fairy is like this, so the facial expressions should be a little more like this.'' There were many things that surprised me.He was the kind of kid who would watch the techniques we do at work and before we knew it, he'd memorize them, and when he noticed, he'd even arrange them, so I couldn't see how far he'd grow. I always thought, Waka-chan.”

Furthermore, we discuss what Waka-san would like to achieve, from the subtle intensities of colors to the delicate atmosphere.

In the process of creating the Japanese version, the members who interacted with Wakasan as "professionals" imagined Wakasan's subtle nuances and particularities, and incorporated them into the English version.

Aya Ishii, editor of Nijino Picture Book Store

: ``When creating the Japanese version, I interacted with Waka-chan many times and realized that she was very particular about expressing her favorite worldview. Just like when creating a picture book together with an author, there were many times when I felt like I didn't notice things like this very well.Therefore, the whole production team worked together to make sure we didn't miss any parts of what Waka-chan would do on each page. I feel like I've checked the page over and over again.

On that day, all the pages were checked and the English version of the picture book "My Precious Beads" was completed.

English version of “Bead Friends” across the ocean

Now that the English version is complete, Yuko is visiting the people who supported Waka's dream.

To report on her daughter's next step.

Reimi Gonshu:

“Ah, Waka-chan drew this. I remember it very well.”

On this day, I went to meet Masa, the facility dog ​​who was with me through both the difficult and happy times during treatment, and his partner, Reimi Gonshu.

In addition to sharing her memories from that time, Yuko also shared the changes in her heart that she felt little by little during the production of this English version.

Yuko

: ``At first, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to make an English version or not, and how I wanted to proceed with it, but everyone listened to me and told me that they really wanted to make it.It took a while. It took a while, but I started to enjoy the process by talking a lot.I now find it fun to flip through the picture books in both the Japanese and English versions. Picture books are cute, just like my own children, so I want to take good care of them while raising my children."

Yuko continues to report that Waka's dream continues while handing out copies of the English version to each of the many people who helped Waka with his treatment and making the picture book.

She says she had some good news earlier this year.

The English version of ``Bead Friends'' was donated to two pediatric wards in the United States, and reached children across the ocean.

``I want to become a picture book author and make people around the world smile.''

How will Waka and the people who support her dream continue to grow?

I would like to continue to watch the show, both as a reporter and as a person who wants to support it.

(Broadcast on “Metropolitan Area Network” on February 15th)

Waka-san was introduced on NHK E-Tele “Aokiiro”

From NHK E-Tele “Aokiiro” where Wakasan was introduced.

Metropolitan area bureau director

Shotaro Fujimatsu Joined the bureau

in 2012

After working in the Sendai bureau, Fukushima bureau, and news bureau, he is currently affiliated with the station.Continues reporting

on cancer, fake information, nuclear accidents, etc.