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Kodansha USA Holds NYC Book Signing, Talk, Film Screening for Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel Novel

Kodansha USA Publishing announced on Wednesday that it is hosting a book launch event for its release of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel (Zoku Madogiwa no Totto-chan) novel in New York City, with a book talk event with the novel's translator Yuki Tejima at the New York Public Library 53rd Street Branch on November 22, a book signing with Tejima at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York on November 24, and a screening of the Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window anime film at the Japan Society New York on November 25.

The screening of the film will include a panel discussion by Tejima, editor Alexandra McCullough-Garcia, and Nathan Shockey, an associate professor of Japanese at Bard College. The screening will also include a book signing.

Kodansha USA Publishing describes the novel:

Over forty years ago, Japanese pop culture icon Tetsuko Kuroyanagi ended the memoir chronicling her childhood adventures at the unconventional Tomoe Gakuen with that beloved school burning down amidst the bombs of WWII. Now, inspired by contemporary events, she has returned to continue Totto's tale! Beginning with her family's frantic effort to escape Tokyo and the worst of the war, Kuroyanagi details how that little girl persevered through starvation and suffering to become a trailblazing actress, a champion for the deaf and children the world over, and one of the most successful entertainers in Japanese history.

Kuroyanagi released the sequel novel in Japan in October 2023.

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's original memoir tells her story of going to school at Tomoe Gakuen, after not fitting at her original elementary school. She meets unique students and learns new things at school, even as Japan descends into war. Kuroyanagi published the book in Japan in 1981, where it became a bestseller over the next year. It became required reading for Japanese elementary school students in the 1980s, and was also translated in English and many other languages worldwide.

Kuroyanagi published the book in Japan in 1981, where it became a bestseller over the next year. It became required reading for Japanese elementary school students in the 1980s, and was also translated in English and many other languages worldwide. The book remains in print in English through Kodansha USA Publishing .

The anime film adaptation opened in Japan in December 2023. Shinei Animation won the Hiroshi Ōkawa Award for its work on the film at the third Niigata International Animation Film Festival on February 7. The movie won the Paul Grimault Award for feature films at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2024. The film won the Grand Prize for the animated feature category of the New York International Children's Film Festival on March 19.

Source: Press release