Tonkachi to Hana Shôgun is a nonsense story very rare in Japan. Only since the 1980s, nonsense literature has appeared frequently in the world of Japanese children’s literature. Tonkachi to Hana Shôgun is a pioneering work together with Tanikawa Shuntaro’s collection of nonsense poetry Kotoba Asobi Uta [Word Games: Nonsense Pictures and Rhymes].
Tonkachi (hammer in Japanese, a strange name for a boy) has a dog named
Sayonara (good-bye). He goes over a broken fence into the woods to search
for a flower. Recently it is very difficult to find a flower anywhere.
Flowers have disappeared from shops, the park, school gardens, and from
the garden of Sakura-chan’s house. Tonkachi wishes to find a flower for
Sakura-chan as a birthday present. As soon as he stepps into the woods,
something white and round floats nearby, after which Sayonara runs away
furiously. Tonkachi calls after it, but Sayonara does not come back. He
begins to look for Sayonara and a flower and meets strange creatures such
as a cat named Yojigen (the fourth dimension) and a general who is collecting
flowers.
Tonkachi to Hana Shôgun is co-written by a couple, Funazaki Katsuhiko (1945- ) and Funazaki Yasuko (1944- ). The pattern of a child going after a missing dog and flower resembles to that of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The unique touch of illustrations which support the story are done by Funazaki Katsuhiko.
In this world of nonsense, words are treated as things. For example,
when Tonkachi meets Yojigen and tells it that he is looking for Sayonara,
Yojigen asks “Since when are you looking for Gokigenyô (farewell
in Japanese)?” By replacing the word Sayonara with another word Gokigenyô,
words are reduced to replaceable things and the ordinary world can be seen
from a different angle.
A Kadokawa Pocket Book edition was published in 1975.
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