PRESS RELEASE
Japanese pop-culture icon Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, whose bestselling autobiography Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, first published in 1981, did as much as any book to set the tone for Japan’s postwar culture, has now published her long-awaited sequel to that memoir. The original installment, Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, which chronicled the writer’s Tokyo childhood and eclectic school life in the run-up to World War II, quickly soared past all previous publishing records in Japan; by the end of 1982, it had become the bestselling book in the country’s history, a distinction it maintains with over 8 million domestic sales to date. A true international phenomenon, it has gone on to sell an astounding, Guinness World Record-breaking 26 million copies worldwide in dozens of languages. Now, over four decades later, Kodansha USA will release the first-ever English translation of Kuroyanagi’s recently published and eagerly anticipated follow-up, Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel, translated by Yuki Tejima.
“I’m excited to share that my memoir, Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel, will soon be released in English,” said author and cultural icon, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. “It has been over forty years in the making and I put my whole heart and soul into it. I hope you all enjoy it.”
Kuroyanagi ended her original, seminal memoir with a heartbreaking scene in which her beloved elementary school, Tomoe Gakuen, burned down amidst the air raids of World War II. Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel begins with her family’s frantic effort to escape Tokyo and the worst horrors of the war. In it, Kuroyanagi details how little Totto persevered through starvation and suffering to become a trailblazing actress, a champion for the deaf and children the world over, and one of the most successful entertainers in Japanese history. Now in her nineties, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi has said of her motivation for penning The Sequel, “I wanted to write about the war while I still remember it.”
Already an established literary classic, Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window reached a new generation in 2023 with the release of an anime film adaptation of the story. The critically lauded picture was produced and animated by Shin-Ei Animation, distributed by TOHO, and directed by Shinnosuke Yakuwa, Yuta Kanbe, and Kunio Kato, with Liliana Ono in the leading role as Totto-chan. Kodansha USA has arranged a screening of the acclaimed film at the Japan Society in New York on November 25, 2025.
To commemorate this long-awaited release, Kodansha USA will be sponsoring the following book-launch events in New York City:
Book talk with Translator Yuki Tejima at the New York Public Library 53rd Street Branch
- Date: Saturday, November 22, 2025
- Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm ET
- Location: 18 West 53rd Street, New York
- Admission: Free
- More info: https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2025/11/22/person-author-talk-yuki-nejima-totto-chan-little-girl-window
Book signing with Translator Yuki Tejima at Kinokuniya Bookstore
- Date: Monday, November 24, 2025
- Time: 6:00-8:00pm ET
- Location: 1073 Avenue of the Americas, New York
- Admission: Free
- More details coming soon.
Screening of Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window feature anime and panel discussion at the Japan Society
- Featuring: Yuki Tejima, translator; Alexandra McCullough-Garcia, editor; Nathan Shockey, Associate Professor of Japanese at Bard College
- Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
- Time: Doors 6:00 pm, Screening 7:00 pm ET
- Location: 333 E 47th Street, New York
- Admission: $16 general admission; $12 students/seniors/persons with disabilities; $8 members
- More Info: https://japansociety.org/film/
“Told with the same disarming charm as the original memoir, the anime connected Totto-chan’s story with a new audience,” said Kodansha USA Publishing President & CEO Alvin Lu. “Now the English-language publication of Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel picks up where that story left off and allows readers to discover the full life story of one of the most influential and inspiring women in Japanese history.”
Today, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi remains one of Japan’s most popular and celebrated media personalities. Her enduring presence is best represented by the success of her long-running television show, Tetsuko’s Room (Tetsuko no Heya), which began airing almost fifty years ago in 1976. In 2011, the program earned a Guinness World Record for the highest number of talk show broadcasts by the same host, a record which it continues to break with every new episode.
An inspirational philanthropist, Kuroyanagi was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF—the first from Asia—in 1984 and has visited 40 countries in that capacity. She is also on the board of the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan and provides professional training to deaf actors through The Totto Foundation, which is financed with her book royalties. She has written over twenty books, including co-authored works.
Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel was originally published in Japan on October 3, 2023 and will be published by Kodansha USA Publishing on November 18, 2025. Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window remains in print with Kodansha USA Publishing.
