The Future of Children’s Literature

　I have been writing children’s literature for a long time, and when I started writing novels, I felt that I was truly competing in pure literature alone.
　However, I was told by someone that I was more suited to children’s literature, and I easily switched. Even now, I still write pure literature, but my main focus is children’s literature.
　However, as you know, it is said that children’s literature is an even more inedible category than literature. In other words, it is a red ocean.
　This is because children’s literature, like picture books, is a world where the standard is overwhelmingly stronger than adult books.
　Someone once described this as being like the Cup Noodle market, and I think that is exactly right.
　No matter how many groundbreaking and delicious Cup Noodles are released, even if they sell well for a while, they do not become a standard item. Even if it surpasses existing products in taste or quantity, it can never overtake them. In other words, it is such a world that has become a staple. I ate it when I was a child, so I give it to my children. When in doubt, it is still the standard flavor. It seems that it is very difficult to overturn that thought process.
　Perhaps this is the main reason why people say that children’s literature is inedible. Instead, when even one work becomes a classic, and that too “of the world,” it can be a huge fortune. For example, “Harry Potter” recently, or, in older times, “The Prince of the Stars,” “Momo,” “The Secret of the Chocolate Factory,” and so on.
　In other words, if you can swim through the domestic red ocean and once you get out into the world ocean, you will find One Piece waiting for you…. Or, perhaps, you could say “Entsu” by Mr. Nishino.
　Or, like Mr. Nishino’s “Pupel in Entsuki-cho,” one way might be to use a solid original work as a springboard for a multi-channel adaptation, such as a movie or a kabuki play.
　But still, it must be a proper work of art. If you can’t do that, you won’t be able to talk about it.
　As for me, I think children’s literature still has great potential. Like the Ghibli films, if we can create works that children can enjoy, but adults can also enjoy as adults, I think we have a good chance of winning in terms of making a living.
　It can be read by everyone from young children to adults. That means that the pie of readers will be bigger. If that is the case, I think the key word is “depth”. I think this is the key word.
　I think this is largely due to the role of the characters that appear in the works. A work in which proper adults appear. This is evident in the world of the caterpillar, the world of the locomotive, and the world of the ring.
　In order to depict the world of children, you have to have a firm grasp of the world of adults as well. The adult world, that is, would be the sorrow of living, suffering, aging, and dying.
　Think about these things. Without a view, if not your own answer, you will inevitably end up with a flowery view of the world.
　However, if you just put the facts as they are, as in adult novels, just as they are in real life, just as the truth is, just as human nature is so terrible, the child will probably just turn away.　Children are creatures of possibility. We do not intend to create a moral or educational book, but we believe it is important to affirm and expand their potential, in other words, to deliver a story that makes them want to live.
　In this exquisite balance, a work that can be delivered to the world. I believe that there is still plenty of potential to create such works.
　See you soon.