A Small Miracle Brought by Totoro's "Let's Walk, Let's Walk" July 18, 2026 (Saturday) Reiwa8

Today, I was overwhelmingly sleepy.

After my shoulder surgery, I have started rehabilitation. My body is gradually becoming able to move again, but I still get tired easily.  
When I lay down thinking, "I will rest for a little while," I received a LINE notification.

My son, who lives overseas, had sent me a video.

In the video was my grandchild, who had just turned one year old.

Apparently, he had been crying.

But on the large screen in the room, a movie I have known for many years was playing: My Neighbor Totoro.

It was the song, "Let's Walk, Let's Walk."

My son said,

"Can you walk?"

And then, something wonderful happened.

My grandchild started walking.

His crying face changed, and he took one step, then another.

He walked straight toward the screen.

The moment I saw him, my sleepiness began to disappear.

"Grandchildren really have a special power," I thought.

Actually, my older grandchildren also loved Totoro when they were little.

They watched it again and again, and whenever the song "Let's Walk, Let's Walk" played, they moved their bodies along with it.

My oldest grandchild even brought a washbasin at the end and played along with the song, tapping it with something like a stick.

For children, favorite songs and stories are not just entertainment.

They can become a source of movement, and they can become a place of comfort and security.

And I remembered something else.

My grandchildren who live overseas are growing up between two languages: Japanese and English.

When they were small, there was a time when they began to prefer English videos over Japanese ones.

I wondered,

"Will Japanese become too difficult for them?"

But the language had not disappeared.

Japanese songs, Japanese anime, Japanese food, and their experiences visiting Japan.

I believe those small memories remained inside them.

Now, they enjoy Japanese anime in Japanese and eat Japanese rice dishes as well.

Culture is not passed down only through textbooks.

Meals shared together.  
Videos watched with family.  
Happy memories.

I think these are the things that naturally remain inside us.

Today, I was sleeping because of the tiredness from rehabilitation.

But seeing my one-year-old grandchild walk toward Totoro made me feel that I could also "walk" once again.

In life, there are small beings who give us an unexpected strength.

Today was the day when my grandchild, living far away, gave my heart its own kind of rehabilitation.

#PowerOfGrandchildren  
#MyNeighborTotoro  
#LetsWalkLetsWalk  
#FamilyMemories  
#ChildrenGrowingUpOverseas  
#JapaneseCulture  
#LifeWithRehabilitation  
#SmallHappiness