Tetsuko Kuroyanagi: Totto-chan

Word Count: 398

From Totto-chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

“The ‘tea party’ was a wonderful farewell gift that Ryo-chan left the children. And although none of them had the faintest idea then, it was in fact the last game they were to play at Tomoe before the children parted and went their separate ways. Ryo-chan went off on the Toyota train. HIs departure coincided with the arrival of the American airplanes. They finally appeared in the skies above Tokyo and began dropping bombs every day” (476).

During war, opposing sides often forget the humanity of the people they are fighting. This narrative is a beautiful example of what Japan was like during World War II and how the Japanese were affected. The children enjoyed their music classes and learned to embrace doing new things. Even so Totto-chan, like most children, was not always perfect. She was kicked out of her role in the play because when another character would beat her, she fought back and refused to stay still like the play called for. They were simply children like children could be. 

These children’s lives were normal before the war but they began to experience loss when their beloved janitor, Ryo-chan, was drafted and had to leave. Instead of having a farewell party they had a tea party to say goodbye. The children went around and told Ryo-chan how much they loved and appreciated him. Totto-chan told Ryo-chan that she would have tea parties everyday after he left and she and other students did. Tetsuko later realizes that this was the last thing Ryo-chan gave to them after being so helpful in the past and that this was the last game that they would play before the war. The headmaster calls this party a tea party rather than a farewell party to spare the children the full understanding of the weight of what Ryo-chan is leaving to do. However, Totto-chan still understands to a certain extent. None of them were prepared for the airstrikes that would come later. The stories are purposefully hopeful and childlike because the emotional effect is stronger when the reader has seen the children interact with their friends and then sees them being torn away from each other. These tea parties were a comfort for Totto-chan and the other children because they were a distraction from what they knew was going on and later even this distraction and comfort was taken from them.