Kyuhei and Sister

Cover to the eBookJapan release, with "Yuki's Blue Eyes" as a co-feature.

**Kyuhei and Sister** (九平とねえちゃん) is a 1966 shojo work by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, released as a one-shot in the appendix of the April issue of *Ribon*.

## Overview

This work is a remake of two earlier one-shots of the 1960s; Tenpei and Sister and White Kappogi. Elements of the two were merged together to create the unified plot of *Kyuhei*. House advertisements in Ribon in March 1966 had identified this then-upcoming work under the name of **White Apron** (白いエプロン) taking a cue from the second one-shot. The title would ultimately pay homage to *Tenpei* instead, due to a change in the setting with there being no "apron" involved.

The one-shot chronicles the life of a pair of siblings, Yukiko and Kyuhei, twenty years after the end of World War II. Although their day-to-day life may appear to be peaceful and ordinary, Yukiko falls in love with a young man named Hiroshi in a chance encounter and eventually learns how fleeting and precious life can be. The story is considered to be one of Akatsuka's anti-war masterpieces of the 1960s, and remembered among works dealing with the lasting after-effects of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

## Characters

### Yukiko

A young woman living in downtown Tokyo with her mother and younger brother. As her father died in a factory machine accident when she was a child, her mother works at a toy factory to support the family and Yukiko works part-time at a ski resort in the winter.

Though she is happy with her life and not too easily defeated by poverty, she has an interest in saving up money to buy a fancy coat that she sees in a shop. She becomes close to Hiroshi after meeting him, and is devastated when she learns of his death.

Yukiko is the equivalent to **Junko** from the two one-shots that inspired the story, with her longing for a coat taking the place of Junko's want for an expensive white dress (but having to instead buy a cooking apron).

### Kyuhei

A small boy full of mischief but also a strong sense of justice. He notably fights a junior high school student over taking a puppy he liked, to the point of getting stuck up on a bridge. He later gets into other conflicts that drive the plot, including one against gangsters that Hiroshi has to break up.

When compared against the original one-shots, Kyuhei takes up the role previously held by **Tenpei**.

### Hiroshi (Camera Shop Nii-san)

A young man who works at a camera shop, and is strong and protective over children like Kyuhei and Yaeko. He reveals that he grew up in Hiroshima as a child when the bomb hit, which caused him to become sick afterwards.

He is strongly anti-war due to the horrors of WWII, and states to Yukiko that things can only be peaceful and safe once all the wars and bombs are gone from the world. Though usually referred to as "The camera shop nii-san" or "Nii-san"/Onii-san" by others, his name is mentioned in narration towards the end.

He effectively stands in the role previously taken up by the otherwise nameless **Croquette nii-san** in *Tenpei and Sister.*

### Yaeko

The child of Hiroshi's older sister, thus making her his niece. After his sister died from illness and her husband ran away, refusing to take Yaeko, he decided to raise Yaeko as his own younger sibling. Hiroshi fears that because Yaeko was born from a sickly mother, she too may one day develop leukemia as he had.

Yaeko and Kyuhei become fast friends after their meeting, but must part after her uncle's death when Yaeko is sent off to live with relatives in Hokkaido.

### Poro

The little dog that Kyuhei and Yaeko come to treat as their tagalong pet. After Yaeko departs, Kyuhei and Yukiko keep the dog.

## Reprints

* Bunka: 1 volume kashihon
* Akebono: 1 volume in the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" collection. Includes "Yuki's Blue Eyes", "Mama Knows the Whole Story After All", and "Gathered in the Living Room" as extra content.
* Shogakukan: Digitized version of the Akebono volume, in "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set
* eBookJapan: 1 volume, includes "Yuki's Blue Eyes" as extra content.

## External Links

* Kyuehi and Sister at eBookJapan (Japanese)