Nontan
Japanese children's picture books
Nontan is the protagonist of an eponymous series of children's picture books written by Sachiko Kiyono (キヨノサチコ). Books from the series have been translated into French and Chinese and adapted into an anime series in 1992 (where his voice was provided by Chiaki Fujimoto and Ayaka Saitō). As of December 2020, over 33.6 million copies of the Nontan books have been sold.
In the series, Nontan is a mischievous male kitten who likes to play and learn about the world around him. Other characters include Buta-san, the rabbit triplets, Tanuki-san, Kuma-san, Hachi-san, and Nontan's little sister Tartan. When the series first appeared, it was criticized for lacking clear lessons, with some fearing it would promote bad behaviour thus leading the character being a poor role model to children, According to the psychologist Takashi Tomita (富田たかし), this is due to the fact that Nontan had some bad traits and occasionally failed that children were able to feel close to him. The series has been used to prepare children for surgery, and analyzed in academic articles.
Kiyono died of a brain tumor on 19 June 2008 at age 60, but her death was not announced until December of that year.
History
The series debuted in August 1976 with Nontan Buranko Nosete. Since then, it has gained popularity not only for their picture books, but also for CDs, anime, CGI animation, and its licensed products.
“Nontan” enters the record as japanese children's picture books. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Nontan, Japanese and children's can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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