I realise I didn't give the context of Totto-chan's story, so here it is:
Mr Sosaku Kobayashi, the headmaster, started Tomoe Gakuen in 1937. Totto-chan was in school during the WWII years and the school was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids, before she completed elementary school.
Here is something from the last chapter, entitled 'Sayonara, Sayonara!'
"The school that had been the headmaster's dream was enveloped in flames...
In the midst of it all, the headmaster stood in the road and watched Tomoe burn...
'What kind of school shall we build next?' he asked his university-student son Tomoe, who stood beside him. Tomoe listened to him dumbfounded.
Mr Kobayashi's love for children and his passion for teaching were stronger than the flames now enveloping the school. The headmaster was cheerful."
Indeed, a man ahead of his time.
The school was never re-built, and Mr Kobayashi passed away in 1963.
In her postscript, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi explained why she used 'The Little Girl at the Window' for her title:
"... an expression... that referred to people being 'over by the window', meaning they were on the fringe or out in the cold. Although I used to stand at the window out of choice, hoping to see the street musicians, I truly felt 'over by the window' at that first school - alienated and very much out in the cold. The title has these overtones, as well as one more - the window of happiness that finally opened for me at Tomoe."
What a difference school can make for a child - either way.
In case you are wondering whether the graduates of Tomoe Gakuen were 'successes' in life, etc, her epilogue lists what became of some of her friends: personnel manager of a large electronics company, music teacher, English instructor, a 'leading physicist' in Japan, 'Japan's foremost authority' on Far Eastern orchids, etc.
As for Totto-chan herself, she became a popular TV personality and Asia's first UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Read the book.
Mr Sosaku Kobayashi, the headmaster, started Tomoe Gakuen in 1937. Totto-chan was in school during the WWII years and the school was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids, before she completed elementary school.
Here is something from the last chapter, entitled 'Sayonara, Sayonara!'
"The school that had been the headmaster's dream was enveloped in flames...
In the midst of it all, the headmaster stood in the road and watched Tomoe burn...
'What kind of school shall we build next?' he asked his university-student son Tomoe, who stood beside him. Tomoe listened to him dumbfounded.
Mr Kobayashi's love for children and his passion for teaching were stronger than the flames now enveloping the school. The headmaster was cheerful."
Indeed, a man ahead of his time.
The school was never re-built, and Mr Kobayashi passed away in 1963.
In her postscript, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi explained why she used 'The Little Girl at the Window' for her title:
"... an expression... that referred to people being 'over by the window', meaning they were on the fringe or out in the cold. Although I used to stand at the window out of choice, hoping to see the street musicians, I truly felt 'over by the window' at that first school - alienated and very much out in the cold. The title has these overtones, as well as one more - the window of happiness that finally opened for me at Tomoe."
What a difference school can make for a child - either way.
In case you are wondering whether the graduates of Tomoe Gakuen were 'successes' in life, etc, her epilogue lists what became of some of her friends: personnel manager of a large electronics company, music teacher, English instructor, a 'leading physicist' in Japan, 'Japan's foremost authority' on Far Eastern orchids, etc.
As for Totto-chan herself, she became a popular TV personality and Asia's first UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Read the book.
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