Miekichi Suzuki Literary Monument

The Suzuki Miekichi Literary Monument is a literary monument dedicated to Suzuki Miekichi in Hiroshima City. Suzuki Miekichi was a novelist and children’s literature writer from Hiroshima City, and is famous as the father of Japan’s children’s culture movement. While working as a vice principal and English teacher, he wrote down Japanese fairy tales, children’s songs, and folktales and helped spread them as literature. His representative work is the children’s magazine "Akai Tori." Akai Tori featured works such as Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s "The Spider’s Thread," Takeo Arishima’s "A Bunch of Grapes," Mimei Ogawa’s "Moonlit Night and Glasses," Yaso Saijo’s "Canary," and Hakushu Kitahara’s "Karatachi no Hana," rapidly spreading his name. Also, the famous story "Gon, the Little Fox" became "Gon Gitsune" as edited by Suzuki Miekichi for children. The supplement issue, originally priced at 18 sen, continued for 17 years until Miekichi died of lung cancer, and it still continues to shine in people’s hearts today. In addition, some works can be read on a site called "Akai Tori no Sekai." To get to the Suzuki Miekichi Literary Monument, take the streetcar from Hiroshima Station and get off at "Genbaku Dome-mae"—it is right there. The monument’s base is engraved with the words: "I will hold dreams forever, only like in my youth, and for that I suffer less—Miekichi.",〒286-0023 Chiba Prefecture