secret room

There is a secret room in the grass between our house and the house next door.
What was in the secret room that followed the cat?
The story unfolds about friends who meet in a new neighborhood.


I meet my friend in the secret room between my house and the house next door.

Sako, a cute girl with short hair, moved to a new neighborhood today. While her mom and dad are packing up the moving items in her new home, Sacco goes to play next door to her. Her parents told me that Sacco and a girl of the same age lived next door to her.
Eager to quickly meet a new friend, Sacco quickly goes next door. And give a big hello at the front door. However, it is quiet as if there is no one next door. As Sacco reluctantly returns to her house, she discovers a meadow. She lives in Sacone and there is a big meadow between her house and her next door house. She was trying to quickly go to the next door earlier, so she didn't have time to look around. The grass was full of yellow dandelions.
Sacco stopped and started picking dandelion flowers. And while she was picking flowers, she saw a black cat. She followed the cat into the grass and went into the grass. The inside of the grass was cozy with leaves hanging like a roof. She was like a room. At that time, Sacco found a basket lying at the base of a tree and carefully opened it. Inside, it was filled with cute little things that made you gasp. Who placed this basket?
Sacco wraps the basket as it was originally placed and decorates it beautifully with the dandelions he picked. Then he went next door and greeted me even louder. But it still seems like there's no one next door. Sako quickly went to the grass and picked plenty of white clover flowers. And she placed it beautifully on the basket with dandelion flowers.
When Sacco went home and ate snacks with his parents, all he could think about was the kid next door. She was so disorganized that she ran up to her room, rummaged through her moving boxes and pulled out her toys. She wishes she could play with the kid next door, she thought. She picked up the toy and ran across the grass, where she went to the room in the grass.
In the room in the grass, the playhouse was neatly placed on a pretty checkered mat. As Sako looked confused, a loud voice came from over there. When she raised her head, she saw a cute little girl. She said, who is that child?

A picture book depicting children's secret spaces

Moving is difficult not only for adults but also for children. You have to leave your familiar place, adapt to a new environment, and make new friends. It is difficult to reach out and become friendly with someone other than yourself. However, children can act a little more innocently and without hesitation than adults. Like Sacco in 『Chamber of Secrets』.
Sako runs to the next door when he hears that he has a friend of the same age. Sako, who stumbled across a children's house in a room in the grass and thought it belonged to the child next door, neatly places dandelion flowers on top of the basket. She also picks rabbit grass flowers and decorates them. Is that all she has? Thinking of the child next door, she takes her precious toy to the room in the grass. She gave away precious things for a friend she had never seen. Her next-door neighbor, Yoko, has also been waiting for a new friend. Her new friend made her pretty flower headband by plaiting the flowers she had placed on her porcelain basket. After meeting each other, the two girls share flower headbands and play together.
The two children share each other's belongings and also share their own space. The space called a secret room in the grass, which is an important subject of the work. The secret room in the grass is a place where Sako and Yoko share their feelings without even knowing each other's faces, and it is a secret yet comfortable place that connects the two girls.
Everyone probably had their own secret place like this when they were young. It could be an attic above a small room, or it could be a space in the grass on a corner of the playground. This kind of space becomes a place to comfort and grow children's hearts. The two girls in this work also share a secret room, make new friends, and grow.
『The Secret Room』 expresses only important colors, such as the girl's red clothes, yellow dandelions, and green grass, on a calm pencil-like drawing. Readers will be able to focus more on the story by looking at the calm and mysterious pictures.
When we make friends, what if we share precious things and share the same time and space like the girls in 『Chamber of Secrets』? This is a must-have picture book for children who need to meet new friends in unfamiliar places and for children who want to have their own space.

Akiko Miyakoshi_Written and illustrated

Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1982, he graduated from the Department of Visual Design at Musashino Art University. In 2009, he received the Excellence Award at the Nissan Fairy Tale and Picture Book Grand Prix, and in 2011, he received the Grand Prize at the Japan Picture Book Award. I create my works using a variety of techniques, including charcoal drawing, collage, and animation. Books that combine text and pictures include 『A Typhoon Is Coming』 and 『On the Way to Run Errands』.


Yang Seon-ha _ Translated

I graduated from Sookmyung Women's University and the University of Tokyo graduate school and am currently working as a professional translator. The translated books include 『Sooni and her little brother』 『Jinga's Exciting Market Outing』 『I Really Really Like』 『Long-Tailed Tiger』 『Shadow Kid's Shadow Journey』 『Yellow Bucket』 『A Gift from Mako』 『Koko Hates Spring!』 There are 『It's ok even if you can't do it』 and 『Cat Helper』.