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Satoshi Kako was featured in a TV program the other day.
He was born in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture in 1926.
He wrote over 600 books so far and it is said that the number is the largest in Japan
as a picture book author.
Still now he sits the desk to write more than seven hours each day.
I think that many parents and children read his picture books in two generations.
Among his books, “Daruma-chan” series have sold over 6.5 million copies in total
and “Crow’s shop” series have sold over 2.8 million copies in total.

During the war, he aimed to be a pilot and tried to be involved in the war.
He regrets from the heart about that and hopes that children wouldn’t have
a mistaken idea unlike him and would be able to judge for themselves about
things around them. So he always writes books in such hope.

Listening to his talk, I wanted to read his books and soon borrowed some from a library.
The books written by him were filled with attraction such not only children,
but also adults get caught up. (H.S)

“Men who build a dam”
The first picture book he created.
My favorite passages : The men’s languages are rough. Rough, scary but kind.
The men aren’t scared away by snow or wind, blowing snow or storm. They never cry. “

“River”
It’s a large-scaled and precise book that you can look down at a river begins from a small stream in a mountain and becomes the sea finally.
Its new format which is a picture scroll version has just published the other day.

“Yasuke of Yamura Village”
Although it’s a commemorative publication for his 88-year old and not for sale,
you can read it in libraries across the country.
Yasuke works hard in the fields of a mountain village. Yasuke lives with his elderly mother.
One day someone appears in front of them. In the end, I couldn’t read without tears.
The last of “She is in a sunny spot”, which was a book I read several years ago,
came back to my memory, it was endearing but made me sad.

As Japanese foods have become popular in the world, did you know that Japanese school lunch has been also highly valued around world as well?

Have you ever had Japanese school lunch and/or heard about how great it is? It is well balanced nutritionally and delicious. Also, the students don’t just eat their school lunch, but they also learn important lessons during school lunch time.

They learn about nutrition, health, cooking, cleaning, manner and team works.

Most Japanese school children decide who will bring the foods from the kitchen, serve the foods and clean. Usually, a group of students take that role, and they always wear surgical masks, aprons and hair net caps for them keep the clean eating environment. The group of people is changed every day, week and/or month depends on school/class rules.

Before they eat, they say “itadakimasu” which means to say “let’s eat” or “thank you for the foods” in Japanese.

While having lunch, the students learn how to eat any kinds of foods properly. During winter, some schools in Fukui Prefecture in Japan, crabs are served to each student so they can learn how to eat it properly without making a mess.

And of course, after they finish eating, another important thing they learn is to clean. The group of people which is in charge of the school lunch for the day, week and/or month, they bring everything they used back to the kitchen.

Ok, now let’s see how the students have school lunch times in Japan.

I would like to share the video of “CafCu Media”, “School Lunch in Japan-It’s Not Just About Eating!”

T.F