Nontan

Nontan
Cover of Nontan Buranko no Sete.
AuthorSachiko Kiyono
LanguageJapanese
GenreChildren's book
Published1976
Publication placeJapan

Nontan[a] is the protagonist of an eponymous series of children's picture books written by Sachiko Kiyono (キヨノサチコ). Books from the series have been translated into French and Chinese and adapted into an anime series in 1992 (where his voice was provided by Chiaki Fujimoto and Ayaka Saitō).[1] As of December 2020, over 33.6 million copies of the Nontan books have been sold.[2]

In the series, Nontan is a mischievous male kitten who likes to play and learn about the world around him. Other characters include Buta-san, the rabbit triplets, Tanuki-san, Kuma-san, Hachi-san, and Nontan's little sister Tartan. When the series first appeared, it was criticized for lacking clear lessons, with some fearing it would promote bad behaviour thus leading the character being a poor role model to children,[1] According to the psychologist Takashi Tomita (富田たかし), this is due to the fact that Nontan had some bad traits and occasionally failed that children were able to feel close to him.[1] The series has been used to prepare children for surgery,[3] and analyzed in academic articles.[4]

Kiyono died of a brain tumor on 19 June 2008 at age 60, but her death was not announced until December of that year.[5]


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  1. ^ a b c "ノンタン、「３０歳」に 「よい子じゃない」が魅力 絵本３４巻、２７００万部発行". Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese). 6 September 2006. p. 29.
  2. ^ "偕成社の大人気絵本「ノンタン」45周年 都営新宿線にノンタンの吊革が出現". J-CAST Trend (in Japanese). 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  3. ^ "小児患者へのプレパレーション効果--ノンタンが主人公の心臓カテーテル検査説明用ツールを導入". Safety Management (in Japanese). 3 (4): 48–51. December 2006.
  4. ^ Kinugawa, Fumihito (31 March 2008). "One guide to reading and performing a picture book in view of one essence of play". Bulletin of Chiba Keizai College (in Japanese) (4). Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  5. ^ "「ノンタン」作者・キヨノサチコさん死去". Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese). 10 December 2008. p. 39.