The Young Lighthouse Keeper and Other Stories and Songs

A twelve-year-old boy holds his post at a lighthouse while his father goes out to rescue sailors from a wreck. A schoolgirl, wounded by a classmate’s cruelty, throws away flowers meant for her teacher. A lonely doll waits through the night for its little owner, and an oversized umbrella shelters three children who learn to be friends.

In these twelve works, Takehisa Yumeji joins fairy-tale invention to a close ear for children’s speech. Animals tell impossible stories at the zoo; Christmas wishes reveal the difference between wanting and contentment; a child wonders why God cannot be as kind as Mother. The long collection Dontaku carries the reader through nursery songs, village games, puppet shows, bereavement, and the ache of adult longing.

Yumeji, celebrated as both an illustrator and a poet, finds tenderness and unease in everyday scenes. This complete English translation preserves every supplied story and song, with repeated refrains and original endings intact. AI-assisted translation.