Wednesday 28 December 2011

Wonderful Words and Photos on Wednesday


Of all the gifts that #1 received this Christmas, her absolute favourite is a little book that was sent to her from Tokyo by Ms. D, an Australian friend who has lived in Japan for many years. The book is called "Misao to Fukumaru" (Misao and Fukumaru). It is the story of the writer's grandmother, Misao, and the white cat with one yellow and one blue eye who appeared on her doorstep as a tiny kitten eight years ago. She named him "Fukumaru" (the circle of good fortune). The cat is hard of hearing, as is often the case with cats with different coloured eyes, as is also Misao. Here is the cover of the book:


The photos are absolutely beautiful, showing the love and caring between the two. Fukumaru helps Misao who is still an active market gardener:


He also helps with important tasks such as drying persimmons:


He relaxes with her when she has a well-deserved cup of green tea:


Celebrates important events, such as her 86th birthday, with her:


And is always there to make every day a happy day for both of them...


An utterly beautiful book. The author (and photographer) is Miyoko Ihara and the book was published in October 2011 by Little More. It is also available through amazon in Japan here.

27 comments:

  1. I just went to Amazon.co.jp to check out more pages, and that looks like a totally awesome book! How nice it would be to bond with a human like that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How utterly beautiful. Those pictures say it all. What a treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How fabulous - am off to Amazon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a special gift about a furry special furiendship!

    Thanks fur sharing!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra
    PeeEssWoo: Hi Tommy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely bond between cat and human. It looks like a wonderful book.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What beautiful pictures! I think that birthday cake is very special too :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is truly exquisite. I went to the gallery and saw the lovely pics. I went to amazon japan and saw the book but don't understand any Japanese :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I will find this book and enjoy it in the new year. I added a link to your post on my post this morning so others could enjoy these photographs. Thank you for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We think that Misao looks a very interesting lady and we bet she has many tales to tell. Fukumaru looks a lovely cat and they look to have a very close bond.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now that's a beautiful bond!! ;)
    Must check out the Book! Thanks for sharing this with us!

    Cheers
    Maxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a beautiful gift. You can see the bond. We haf to check this out. Thanks fur sharing. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jonesie thinks she has found a soulmate in this kitty! Now she wants her own book.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great story and wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  14. A life well lived. Exquisite photos but more than that, an exquisite friendship. Makes you believe there is still hope for the world.

    I believe that many of us would love to own this wonderful book but we cannot read the Amazon Japan web site. Can you ask your #1 if she can tell us speakers of only western languages how to order the book, if possible.
    We would be grateful for her help.
    P.S. Our Gran is totally deaf and our mum, Kari, is loosing her hearing as well. A very meaningful book for us.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my gosh, those pictures are so wonderful. That book does look like a real treasure. What a wonderful wonderful relationship. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a wonderful book! The photos are amazing.

    Many thanks for sharing it with us.

    - Clive and Murray

    ReplyDelete
  17. We can see why #1 loves that book so much. It seems like a wonderful story. Fukumaru is beautiful.

    Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

    ReplyDelete
  18. Just the part you have in your post is enough to make us want this book.

    thank you for bringing it to our attention.

    Bert and My Vickie

    ReplyDelete
  19. mom is definitely getting that book
    Benny & Lily

    ReplyDelete
  20. How neat and we saw this on some news site too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh wow what beautiful photos!

    Love MandaBurms Clan

    ReplyDelete
  22. What an uplifting post! Thanks for sharing this book with us!

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a beautiful book. The photographs are amazing, Thank you for sharing it with us.
    Big Nose Pokes
    The Thugletsx

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a beautiful bond those two share together :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Those are some beautiful photos and what a pretty kitty. Love the different color eyes but then again I'm a sucker for the blue eyes. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting our blog! We love getting comments.