Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

The younger brother's childish voice was earnest: "I'm going to be in fourth grade soon, so I need to get familiar with fourth grade!"

"That's really impressive." Higashino Yuka chuckled softly. "I can't do anything with you, here you go."

She tossed a total of 200 coins to her younger brother.

"Oh! Thank you, sister!"

The younger brother held the coin high in the air and ran off cheering.

"I'm going to find Koichi and the others. I'll buy the copy of 'Four Years' this time."

"Be careful, don't lose the money," Higashino Yuka instructed.

"I know!" came the voice; the younger brother was already at the door.

Looking at his retreating figure, Higashino Yuka felt a pang of heartache.

"Why is a children's comic magazine so expensive? 'Try to Say Goodbye' is only 140."

School starts tomorrow, and she'll be seeing her friend Miyuki Nagai again.

"With Miyuki's connection, I should be able to get to know Oikawa-sensei, right? I need to get his autograph."

She became a fan of Oikawa Niji after reading a short story.

"I really want to see his other works."

……

The next day, September 1st, the students started school.

There were many primary school students carrying schoolbags on the road.

Morimoto was surrounded by a group of "little people," his face beaming with joy.

"With so many children, we won't have to worry about the circulation of our comics in the future."

Many industries have changed in tandem with the baby boom.

The more children people have, the better the future prospects of these industries will be.

Shonen manga will be particularly affected.

"It's a pity I probably won't live to see the golden age of Japanese manga."

He sighed, walked slowly to a small bookstore near the elementary school gate, and said to the shop owner.

"Please give me a copy of 'Fourth Grader's Elementary School Textbook'."

"Please wait a moment."

The shop owner took the book "Elementary School Fourth Grader" from the shelf behind him and handed it to Morimoto along with a bunch of toys and teaching aids.

"You really dote on your grandson," the shop owner said with a smile. "That'll be 200 in total, thank you for your patronage."

He completely misunderstood, and Morimoto didn't explain. He took out the money, carried a bunch of things, and left.

"Here, these are for you."

He bent down and gave the odds and ends of the freebies to the child who was looking at him expectantly.

"Thank you, Grandpa!"

……

After leaving school, Morimoto sat down on a bench near the park.

"The meaning of children's comics is to bring smiles to children. Let me see... whether Oikawa has the ability to do so."

He opened the "Elementary School Fourth Grader" magazine, found the page number of the manga "Ikkyu the Clever" in the table of contents, and then patiently began to read it.

"It really is..."

It is also recorded in Chapter Twenty-Eight, "The Record of Enlightenment".

"Are you going to see Mr. Oikawa after school tomorrow?"

"Oikawa-sensei? It's Fushimikawa."

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Realizing that her friend Miyuki Nagai hadn't read "Try to Say Goodbye" and therefore didn't know the pen name Oikawa, Yuka Higashino smiled awkwardly.

"Please take me with you."

"Why?" Miyuki Nagai asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I'll stay with you."

"Thank you."

After making the appointment, Higashino Yuka, a native of Tokyo, happily returned home.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw the messy living room.

"That Ryota is throwing his toys around again."

She bent down and picked up the odds and ends her brother had scattered everywhere.

"Wait, what is this...?"

She saw an open comic book, titled "Fourth Grader".

"You've only had it for a short time, and you're already not appreciating it?"

She picked up the comic book, flipped through a couple of pages, and saw a name that surprised her.

“Oikawa Ji…” Higashino Yuuka muttered, “Such a strange name, it can’t be a coincidence, right? Becoming a manga artist so quickly is truly remarkable. Handsome and talented, no wonder Miyuki has a crush on him. But…”

"Why are you drawing children's comics instead of shonen comics? Get your talent working!"

Holding a comic magazine, she sat on the sofa and began to read it intently.

"What is this? It's a tale of a prince's misfortune."

Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent the samurai Shin'emon to the temple to monitor Ikkyu, a young monk with royal blood, and witnessed Ikkyu's intelligence and talent.

The incident began when the temple elder instructed his disciples to make things difficult for Ikkyu by having him chop a thick wooden stake into firewood.

Ikkyu sat cross-legged on the ground, circled his two index fingers, which were wet with saliva, above his head, and soon had an idea.

He cleverly used Shin'emon's samurai identity to lure the children near the temple into helping him chop firewood.

"This is a test for warriors; whoever cleaves well will be trained to become a warrior."

The children were immediately motivated and eagerly volunteered to help Ikkyu with the chores.

The firewood was chopped quickly.

"She only likes to take shortcuts and play petty tricks..." Higashino Yuka pouted.

The elder saw what Ikkyu had done wrong and punished him by making him clean the main hall.

The main hall was extremely spacious for a child. Ikkyu had just finished cleaning a part of it when the wind blew in leaves, making it dirty again.

This made him very discouraged.

"That's exactly right!" Higashino Yuka nodded in satisfaction. "That's what makes it educational!"

The comic thus reveals Ikkyu's true identity.

He was a prince with noble blood from an enemy country, imprisoned at Ankoku-ji Temple by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Only by becoming a renowned monk could he protect himself.

This is also why the elders tempered Ikkyu's character.

Seeing Ikkyu crying under the teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll given to him by his mother), recalling the painful memory of being forced to leave his mother at a young age and being ordained as a monk, Yuka Higashino couldn't help but feel compassion.

"What a pitiful little monk."

Inspired by his mother's parting words, "Don't be discouraged, don't cry," Ikkyu regained his hope and went on to fulfill his responsibilities.

Despite it being a children's comic, Yuka Higashino was completely engrossed in reading it.

This manga is not only educational but also surprisingly fun, making it suitable for children as well as college students with a childlike spirit like Yuka Higashino.

After this story, there is another story.

Miss Yayoi from the Kikyō shop brought syrup to the temple elder. Fearing that the disciples would be tempted to eat the syrup, she lied and said that children would be poisoned if they ate it, but adults would be an exception.

Who would believe that?

Ikkyu offended Yayoi in order to help his friend, Yoko, who had been wrongly accused by her.

This is a woman who is very calculating.

She treated the broken inkstone as good and gave it to Ikkyu.

The blame for breaking the inkstone thus fell on Ikkyu's shoulders.

By licking his thumb and circling it above his head, Ikkyu came up with a solution.

"What is it?" Yuka Higashino couldn't figure out the answer.

Surely they won't just obediently accept the punishment, will they?

Miss Yayoi hurriedly pulled the elder aside, wanting him to see the broken inkstone so that she could punish Ikkyu.

But what they saw was a group of young monks lying in the room with their faces covered by white cloths.

Next to them was an empty syrup jar.

Ikkyu said, "We committed suicide together."

Higashino Yuka suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. It's connected to the syrup. Yayoi was too clever for her own good. She thought the young monks weren't qualified to eat the syrup, so she lied, and now Ikkyu is using her."

He committed suicide by eating syrup with the intention of atonement, thus enjoying the delicious treat while avoiding punishment—truly killing two birds with one stone.

Mi stormed off, and the elder burst into laughter.

The comic ends here.

The two stories introduce the background, showcase Ikkyu's intelligence, and are also educational, making them excellent children's comics.

At least Yuka Higashino likes it.

That evening, she saw her younger brother, who was struggling with his homework, doing Ikkyu's signature pose, and couldn't help but laugh.