1978 Mom's Library Card #1: The Mysterious Town Over the Mist
What kind of books did I read back then?
A 'mom' born in 1978 recalls her reading memories after being asked by her child.
I'm going to write about books that I might forget, but don't want to.
'Mom, what did you read?'
When my eldest daughter was in fourth grade, she asked me that, and for a moment—
Wait, what did I read?
I don't think I ever really talked about books with anyone back then.
My eldest daughter said, 'I can't choose books for myself.'
It was a shock.
When I asked what she meant, she said, 'Even if I look at the spine, I don't know if it looks interesting.'
Huh, are you really that careful about choosing?
Isn't it fine if the result is just, 'That was boring'?
I was speechless.
I was speechless, but I thought, 'Oh, some people have that kind of sensibility,' so I shifted my perspective and tried to put my own way of choosing into words.
'Try reading the title, or look at the design of the letters, and if you like it, try picking it up.'
'Even if you don't think you like it, it's okay to just wonder, "What is this?"'
'Sometimes there's a summary on the back cover, too.'
I think that by doing that, you'll gather information little by little...
My eldest daughter still wasn't convinced. Then she asked, 'Well then, Mom, what did you read?'
I started to recall the books I loved when I was a child, one by one.
The first one that came to mind was Sachiko Kashiwaba's 'The Mysterious Town Over the Mist'.
That's right, that was—a book that my new homeroom teacher introduced to us at the end of fifth grade.
Fortunately, I found it on Amazon.
This book was published in 1975 and has a cumulative circulation of over one million copies, making it a long-selling piece of children's literature.
Similarities to the movie 'Spirited Away' have also been pointed out frequently.
This is a story about a young girl named Lina who wanders into a mysterious town shrouded in mist during her summer vacation and grows as she spends time with its eccentric inhabitants.
The structure of a girl traveling through an 'otherworld' perfectly resonates with the sensitive heart of an elementary school student wavering in their distance from reality.
I read it many times, too, and wished I could go to Toke's candy shop, even if just in a dream. I used to wish I could hold Lina's umbrella.
My eldest daughter was hooked when she read it.
She read it over and over, and achieved the surprising feat of choosing it for her book report three years in a row.
(I thought to myself, 'Don't you want to change it up a bit?')
Just as the letters on the spine blur, my memories are also fading little by little, but the time I spent inside those books still gently illuminates my heart even now.
I'm sure you all have books like that, too.
What kind of books were you reading 'back then'?
I would be happy if we could look back on our memorable books together 🫶
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