約束

1970年設立、文芸中心の神保町老舗出版社。
社名「青娥書房」の名付け親は詩人・哲学者の串田孫一。創設者は、渡辺淳一『阿寒に果つ』のモデルとなった夭折の画家・加清純子の姉であり、昭和のキャリアウーマンの先… 棚の紹介を読む

With English and Spanish text
鬼の目にも涙。涙が集まって美しい湖を五つ作った。
TV『まんが日本昔ばなし』を16年もの間、演出、作画した前田こうせいは、その間もずっと河口湖で絵筆を取り続けた富士の麓の画家です。彼が画業60年を経て世に問う、桃太郎と富士山の新たな伝説の絵本『約束』は、日本人の誰もが知っているお伽噺『桃太郎』のスピンオフであり、日本人だけでなく、昨今は海外からも遠路はるばる人々が訪れ、仰ぎ見る富士山と富士五湖の誕生に光を当てます。だから、この絵本には英語とスペイン語の対訳がつけられています。富士山は知っていても、桃太郎のことは全く知らない世界中の人々にも届くように。
ペーソスと懐かしさに溢れる『まんが日本昔ばなし』で、愛くるしくも悲しい映画『ごんぎつね』で、前田こうせいワールドに触れてきた日本人に新たに降り注ぐ幼子の頃の原風景。山に芝刈りに行くおじいさん、川に洗濯に行くおばあさん、どんぶらこと流れてくる桃、きびだんごを頬張る桃太郎、犬・猿・雉、鬼そして富士山。前田こうせいが絵にしてもう一度私たちに見せてくれます。大人が先ず郷愁に浸ってから、子どもに読み聞かせたい絵本です。

Even the fiercest ogre sheds tears—and those tears gathered to form five beautiful lakes.

Kosei Maeda, who spent 16 years directing and animating the beloved Japanese TV series Manga Nippon Mukashi Banashi (Manga Nippon Fairy Tales), is a painter based at the foot of Mount Fuji, where he has continuously held his brush by Lake Kawaguchi. Marking his 60th year as an artist, he now presents The Promise, a new picture book that weaves a fresh legend connecting Mount Fuji with Momotaro (Peach Boy), Japan's most popular folk hero. This book is a spin-off of Momotaro, a story known to every Japanese child. It sheds light on the creation of Mount Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes—sights that now inspire travelers from all over the world to journey across oceans just to gaze upon them. To bridge this world, the book includes side-by-side English and Spanish translations, ensuring it reaches global audiences who adore Mount Fuji but may be entirely unfamiliar with the legend of Momotaro.

For the Japanese generations who grew up immersed in the "Maeda Kosei World"—through the pathos and nostalgia of Manga Nippon Mukashi Banashi and the adorable yet heartbreaking animated film Gongitsune (Gon, the Little Fox)—this book revives the primal landscapes of their childhood. The old man going to the mountains to cut wood, the old woman washing clothes at the river, the giant peach bobbing down the stream, Momotaro savoring millet dumplings, the faithful dog, monkey, and pheasant, the ogre, and Mount Fuji itself. Maeda brings them all to life once more through his art. It is a masterpiece that adults will first want to immerse themselves in with deep nostalgia, before reading it aloud to their children.