![]() ”That’s why,” continues Yanase, “I try to recognize each child’s individual character more than I do with adults.” With that set phrase, ‘but you’re just a kid,’ we may be holding children back from something. Yanase’s words overlap with my own experience of child-rearing. But this is sometimes bothersome for the child, isn’t it?” They want to immerse their kids in the characteristics of their own memories: cute, innocent, and angelic. In one essay, he writes: “Adults are inclined to position children within their own nostalgia. The contents include the message the creator sought to deliver in the Anpanman stories, how he thought about children, memories of his boyhood, and his philosophy of life. The essays were written about 20 years ago, but in 2022, long after Yanase’s death in 2013, they were reprinted in a new format. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that child-rearing in Japan wouldn’t be possible without Anpanman.īoku to seigi to Anpanman (Me and Justice and Anpanman) is a series of essays by Yanase Takashi, the writer who gave birth to the hero. The anime series Soreike Anpanman! (Let’s Go, Anpanman!) has been continually broadcast for more than 30 years, and new movies featuring the hero are constantly being released. Since that first outing, a total of more than 80 million Anpanman books have been published. He flies across the sky with his cape, helping people who are hungry by giving them a piece of his bean-bun head, and defeating the bad guys. The hero’s name was written in hiragana (now it is written in katakana), and his face was slightly different from what it is now. Yanase’s Message in the Anpanman Storiesįifty years ago, in 1973, the first picture book in the Anpanman series, Anpanman, was published. Some of my friends who are moms and dads said disappointedly, ”The first word my child said was anpan.” They were expecting to hear mama or papa as their child’s first word, but Anpanman’s influence was stronger. Before I realized it, we had more goods related to the franchise than I could count. ![]() With my three children all still under the age of 10, our house is filled with Anpanman picture books, Anpanman toys, Anpanman DVDs, stuffed toys of Anpanman, Anpanman clothes, and much more. But even so, I think Anpanman and Baikinman might actually be good friends.Īs I got older, I had less and less contact with Anpanman-that is, until I became a mother myself. Together with these friends, Anpanman defeats Baikinman and his gang. Other cute characters created from food include Shokupanman (White Bread Man), Karēpanman (Curry Bread Man), Kurīmupanda (Cream Panda), and Tendonman (Tempura Rice Bowl Man). (This does him some damage, but he can get a new face at the bakery, over and over again.) When his archrival, Baikinman, (Bacteria-man) is mean to him, Anpanman teaches him a lesson with his special technique, the “An-Punch.” Anpanman is always doing good things, and he’s a popular hero with children. ![]() If he hears that someone is in trouble, he flies off into the sky to help them, and if they are hungry, he gives them some of the anpan that his face is made of to eat. Stand up for everyone.”Īnpanman was born in a bakery and his head is made from anpan, a bun filled with sweet bean paste, but he has a body like that of a human. Japan has given birth to many heroes, but one hero that probably everyone knows is Anpanman-literally, “Bean Jam Bun Man.” No matter how old I get, when I see that familiar face, I hear the anime’s theme song in my head―”Yes, that’s right. ![]()
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