Nakanaori
(Friends Again)
Once upon a time, a bear wanted to build a house and began to pick up cut logs from the forest floor. But, then suddenly a beaver came running and shouting, “those are my logs. I cut them. Give them back to me.” But the bear would not give them back and began to fight with beaver and the other animals in the forest. Bear goes off and starts to try and build a house, but just can’t do it by himself. All alone without a friend, the bear starts to cry. Just when all seems lost, Old Grandmother Squirrel comes to teach him the magical NAKANOURI, “friends again” song.
So begins the book NAKANAORI (Friends Again), the first of the “Kizuna” Picture Book Series. NAKANOURI is written to give very young children an understanding of how to create bonds with other people, a skill vital to a harmonious world and personal success; a crucial skill in public relations and “relationship management”.
There are three key concepts in public relations for successful relationship management:
1) Ethics
2) Two-way communication (talking with each other)
3) Self-correction (recognizing when you are wrong, and having the ability and will to take correcting action)
Reading NAKANAORI (Friends Again) many times to a small child, both you and your child can learn the true meaning of the three keywords and thereby nurture the skill of managing relationships with others, which after all, is vital for bringing harmony to our increasingly global society.
Recommendation
Mr Yoshiki Otake
Recommendation
"I was born in a mountain village in Hiroshima, and every day for four hours I walked around the mountain. On rainy days, windy days, and even on snowy days, I would go to elementary school and then back home again. "Nakanaori" is a word that brings back nostalgic memories of my childhood. This "Nakanaori" picture book can teach children in their earliest and most important years how to live strongly while finding a solid purpose in life. The book also contains the essence of three important words: ethical (omoiyari), interactive communication (discussing things with each other), and self-correction (making things right when one has done something wrong). Let the people of the world all learn to say "NAKANAORI."Biography
Founder ＆ Executive Advisor, AFLAC Japan. Founder of AFLAC JAPAN (American Family Life Assurance Company), and former Executive Advisor. He established the company in 1974, the first to sell cancer insurance in Japan. He was born in 1939, and graduated from Hiroshima Agricultural Junior College, and studied in the USA.
Currently focuses on developing young talent. The author of several books, including: ‘Is this OK?’, and ‘Theory of leader remodelling’.
AUTHORS
Author
Kapilina
“Kapilina” is the Hawaiian word for human relationship bonding skills, which in Japanese is called “Kizuna.” Using the pen name Kapilina, two picture book writers Kato Shii (born 1975) and Tatsuo Furusawa (born 1976) decided to write the Nakanaori picture book. The two men first met in a workshop on picture books.
Kato Shihon has written several books including: Torikaechan (pictures by Hideyasu Moto, published by Bunkeido), Guru Guru Pon (pictures by Takeuchi Tsuga, published by Bunkeido), Kuttsukero (pictures by Takeuchi Tsuga, published by Gakken Plus, Sekai ichi takai suberitai (pictures by Katsumi Yamazaki, published by Dainippon Tosho).
Tatsuo Furusawa’s picture books include: Oshare na Karasu Graffiti (Ohanshi puka – Gakken Plus), and illustrations for Koyote Taiyo o nusumu; Koyote no kyojin to tatakau (with translation by Yuriko Takano, published by Futohsha).
Editorial Supervisor
Takashi Inoue
Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Graduate School of Management. Director, Japan Public Relations Institute.
Chairman and CEO, Inoue Public Relations. Vice-Chairman, Society of Global Business. A leading figure in Japanese public relations (PR). Public relations professional / educator, businessman, creator of the "Self-Correction Model" of public relations. His graduate work at Waseda University on public relations research earned him the first PhD granted in Japan for public relations. He has been a strong advocate of "KIZUNANA EDUCATION" throughout his life. Author of many publications, including, What is accountability? (PHP Publishing); Public Relations (Nippon Hoyron Sha); Public Relations in Hyper-globalization (Routledge).
Satoru Nagafukata
Born in 1951. After graduating from university, he taught at a public elementary school in Kagoshima prefecture. Thinking that he “wanted to learn about overseas education directly", he also came to believe that to "get a deeper understanding of Japanese education it was best to learn from other countries and cultures.” He went to Zurich, Switzerland, where he thought education was most advanced and taught at the Zurich Japanese School. Returning to Japan, he became the principal of a small-town school. He now studies early childhood education development based on brain science theory and speaks nationwide. In addition, he established the Nagafukata Educational Revitalization Research Institute" and also serves as a director of a nursery school in the Tsurumi Ward of Yokohama.
