Hajimete no otsukai

TITLE: はじめてのおつかい (Hajimete no otsukai: First Errand)
Author: Yoriko Tsutsui
Illustrator: Akiko Hayashi
Publisher: Fukuinkan-Shoten (1 March, 1976)​
Language: Japanese
ISBN: 978-4834005257​

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While I get up my nerve to split this blog into two and write about books in Japanese, I will tell you about this classic Japanese picture book. It's been translated into English before as "Miki's First Errand" and if you're interested in that version the ISBN is 978-1741260137, but I am choosing to write about the original Japanese version because well, that's the one on my Purple Book Cart and it's the one that sings more closely to my heart.

This is a book that is quintessentially Japanese. The concept of a little girl, a tiny little girl walking off to the shop to buy her mummy some milk is not something that happens in Western countries (and if I am being honest - I am almost sure this hardly ever happens anymore in 21st century Japan). However when Mi-chan's mummy asks her if she's ready for this big task, the little tyke leaps out of her seat, more than ready for action. There are slips and trips along the way, but in the end, Mi-chan is able to successfully bring back the milk (and the change!) to her mother, waiting in the street with a smile. Did Mummy follow her to the shop? We will never know.

Akiko Hayashi's illustrations really carry the story in this book. From the furtive glance of the mother, to the flushed cheeks of Mi-chan, from the speeding bicycle and its wide open forward motion, to the page where Mi-chan falls flat on her face, sending her money flying on the road (I haven't included this spread, because I really want you to read this book!). This is a rollicking adventure tale, we are sure of that. Although the outcome is as simple as successfully purchased milk, it's so much more than that. It's about a tiny voice in the world, insisting to be heard. It's about the innate desire of children to be helpful and to grow up to be the awesome human adults they are destined to be. If Mi-chan is now grown up and has children of her own (and actually, looking at the publishing date she is just my age), I might meet her in a coffee shop for parenting advice.