Product Description

This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. This unusual school had old railroad cars for classrooms, and it was run by an extraordinary man-its founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi--who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity.

In real life, the Totto-chan of the book has become one of Japan's most popular television personalities--Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. She attributes her success in life to this wonderful school and its headmaster.

The charm of this account has won the hearts of millions of people of all ages and made this book a runaway bestseller in Japan, with sales hitting the 4.5 million mark in its first year.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87673 in Books
• Published on: 1996-05-15
• Original language: Japanese
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, Japanese (translation)

About the Author
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, daughter of the celebrated violinist, was voted Japan's most popular television personality fourteen times. She studied to become an opera singer but then became an actress instead, winning a prestigious award for her work in radio and television. She spent 1972 in New York studying acting, and was critically acclaimed in Japan for her leading role in works by Albee and Shaffer and in Melchior Lengyel's "Ninotchka." Her daily television talk show, "Tetsuko's Room," is still going strong after more than twenty years. Japan's first such program, it was recently awarded television's highest prize. This and the other shows on which she regularly appears all enjoy top viewer ratings.

Devoted to welfare and conservation, Kuroyanagi is Asia's first UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador (see Totto-chan's Children and serves on the board of the Worldwide Fund for Nature. The Totto Foundation--financed with her book royalties--provides professional training to deaf actors, with whom Kuroyanagi often apppears. Kuroyanagi has twice brought America's National Theater of the Deaf to Japan, acting with them in sign language. She is the author of ten books.

Translator Dorothy Britton, author, poet, and composer, was born in Japan and educated in the United States and England. A pupil of Darius Milhaud, she is well known for her popular Capitol Records album "Japanese Sketches," in which Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's father is violin soloist. Her distinguished translation of Basho's Narrow Road to a Far Province is a classic. She is author of The Japanese Crane: Bird of Happiness and co-author of National Parks of Japan. Her most recent work includes a translation of Princess Chichibu's autobiography, The Silver Drum and Kuroyanagi's Totto-chan's Children.

Customer Reviews

Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window
A heart-warming, and delightful collection of true stories of young Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, a famous television personality in Japan. It begins when Totto-chan ( Tetsuko's nick name) was expelled from the first grade because of her disruptive behaviour. She was then transferred to a very unique school ran by a headmaster who had his own teaching philosophy. The school itself was not in a building but in discarded railroad cars. The book also includes other adventures Totto-chan had been involved in, and also previews what life had been like as a small child in Japan during the outbreak of World War II. I recomend this book to parents, and teachers because of Mr. Kobayashi- the headmaster's philosophy of education. It also makes fun reading for children, as I myself have had this book since I was twelve years old.

Can I give it more than 5 stars please???
I received this book as a gift from a pen pal in Japan about fifteen years ago, and recently found it on Amazon - so I had to buy copies of it for all of my friends. This is a very sweet, simple book and it is also a true story of the author, who is a famous television personality in Japan. The story is written very simply, and it would not be inappropriate for a child, yet not too simplified for an adult. The story begins when Totto-chan, the heroine of the story, is on her way to a new school after being expelled from her old school (she does not find out about the expulsion until years later). The new school is a progressive school which does things in a different way, and treats children differently, teaching them to see the world in a new way. The book is filled with side splitting funny stories, and a few touching ones as well. When you finish reading it, (it won't take long) it will bring a tear to your eye, but make you smile, and make you feel better for having read it. Check it out - I promise you won't be disappointed.

Hungry for more!
Totto Chan is my favourite book! I mean it! My first encounter with Totto Chan was in a book of short stories during a literature lesson. I was deeply amazed by the fact that how a first-grader could be expelled from school. Reading about Totto Chan's experiences really tugged at my heartstrings. Even her new school Tomoe Gakuen exuded a charm of its own. I simply love the atmosphere of the school and the song that the students dutifully sing before meals. While reading the book, I could almost imagine myself attending classes in abandoned railroad cars and the euphoria of going to school everyday. Definitely not a chore, not anymore. I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to relive their childhood memories. This book is worth every penny! What are you waiting for? Go get it now!