The short story of Kanji pictures
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda in 2012, this animated film received numerous domestic and international awards in countries such as Belgium, Spain, and China.
The movie is a heartwarming fantasy about the love between a human woman and a werewolf, as well as the growth of their children—their independence and the journeys they take to find their own paths in life.
This unforgettable story begins right here in Kunitachi City, with a fateful encounter between a young woman and a wolf-man!
This kanji depicts a fire burning strongly, with one “fire” radical stacked on top of another. As you can imagine, this kanji means “flame.”
The Main Building of Takinogawa Gakuen was built in Yaho in 1928 specifically for the education of children with intellectual disabilities.
Following a tragic fire eight years prior, Fudeko and her husband, Ryoichi, designed this facility with safety and ease of evacuation in mind—featuring wide corridors, low-step slopes with rubber guards, and large windows.
Today, this Main Building is registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property.
| 名称 | 滝乃川学園 本館（石井亮一・筆子記念館） |
| 所在地 | 〒186-0015 東京都国立市矢川３丁目16番地の１ |
| Homepage | https://www.takinogawagakuen.jp/ |
Fudeko Ishii (1861–1944) was a pioneering female educator and the co-founder of Takinogawa Gakuen, Japan’s first school for children with intellectual disabilities, located right here in Yaho.
Born into a samurai family in Kyushu, she grew up to become one of Japan’s first female study-abroad students to Europe, alongside Umeko Tsuda.
After returning to Japan, fluent in three languages and versed in European social etiquette, she was celebrated as “the flower of Rokumeikan society.”
However, tragedy struck her personal life: she lost her husband and two of her three children to illness, while her surviving child had an intellectual disability. Driven by these experiences, she developed a deep devotion to special education.
She went on to found Takinogawa Gakuen, dedicating the rest of her life to educating children with intellectual disabilities.
Her dramatic life was adapted into the 2007 feature film “Fudeko’s Love” (Fudeko no Uta), starring Takako Tokiwa.
| 滝乃川学園 Homepage | https://www.takinogawagakuen.jp/ |
| 映画「筆子その愛 天使のピアノ」Homepage | https://www.gendaipro.jp/fudeko/index1.html |
This kanji consists of two parts. The top part is “SOUND,” which originally depicted a vessel producing a sound. Below it is “HEART.” Together, they express a word or thought inside one’s heart that hasn’t been spoken aloud. Therefore, this kanji means “consciousness,” “thought,” or “intention.”
This stone statue was made by Seki Bin at Shikenzaike Park in 2003. The title of this statue, “Shigetsu” (Pointing at the Moon), describes the foolishness of looking only at the finger pointing to the moon, rather than at the moon itself. It cautions us against getting so caught up in the means—such as words or written letters—that we lose sight of the ultimate truth and essential meaning behind them.
| 名称 | 四軒在家公園 |
| 所在地 | 〒186-0015 東京都国立市矢川３丁目１０ |
This kanji depicts the sun radiating bright light. Depending on your perspective, the light appears in various colors. Because of this, the kanji came to mean “easy to change” or “easy.”
