Poet and Tsubota Joji Literary Award-winning Author Naoko Higashi Presents 'Kaidan ni Palette,' a Story of Quiet Regeneration Through Gentle Encouragement and Tender Moments, Releasing May 9th.

Daiwa Shobo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Tetsu Yamato) will release 'Kaidan ni Palette' (Authored by Naoko Higashi) on May 9, 2026.

"After finishing reading, I was enveloped in an indescribable happiness," says Shinji Ishii, highly recommending the book!

"Anyone is welcome to come and draw"── A heartwarming, gentle, and quiet story of regeneration for the people who gather at a small art class in the downtown area.

Sanae, who has been carrying the sorrow of losing her husband, a painter, renovates an old folk house in a back alley of the downtown area and starts an art class. The atelier, marked only by a small signboard, begins to attract people such as the taciturn boy Rui, elementary school students living nearby, an editor who commissions illustrations from Sanae, and a mother and child from the neighboring house. Through the irreplaceable time of teaching and drawing, Sanae's unexpressed feelings and the students' anxieties are gradually healed, and they become enveloped in a bright light──.

*This work is a revised and re-edited paperback version of the same title published by Poplar Publishing Co., Ltd. in November 2020.

Table of Contents

1. Calico Cat and Boy

2. Newborn Painting

3. Spreading from a Piece of Paper

4. School and Atelier

5. Sharing the Sky

6. Where Loneliness Goes

7. Connecting Places

Author Biography

Naoko Higashi Born in Hiroshima Prefecture. Poet, writer. In 1996, she received the 7th Kadan Award for "Kusakammuri no Houmonsha." In 2016, she received the 31st Tsubota Joji Literary Award for 'Ito no Mori no Ie.' In 2006, she published her first novel, 'Nagasaki-kun no Yubi.' Her numerous works include poetry collections 'Haruhara-san no Recorder,' 'Aotama,' 'Jukkai,' novels 'Toritsukushima,' 'Sayonara Mado,' 'Kusuriya no Tabasa,' 'Hare Onna no Mimi,' 'Hitokko Hitori,' 'Flannel no Himo,' essay collections 'Issho ni Ikiru Oyako no Fukei,' 'Lemon Sekken Awatateru,' 'Sakana wo Daite Watashi no Naka no Eiga to Drama,' poetry books 'Ai no Uta,' 'Tanka no Tsumeawase,' 'Tanka no Jikan,' 'Gendai Tanka-ban Hyakunin Isshu Hanabana wa Iroaseru no ne,' co-authored with Hiroshi Homura 'Tanka Ensoku-cho,' co-authored with Rein Kudo 'Mizuta Tsushin,' poetry collection 'Asa, Sora ga Miemasu,' and picture books 'Ame Popopo' (illustrations by Tatsuro Kiuchi), 'Watashi no Manto wa Boushi-tsuki' (illustrations by Naoko Machida), 'Shima-chan Momo-chan Mori no Naka' (illustrations by Nanako Matsuda).

Book Overview

Title: Kaidan ni Palette

Author: Naoko Higashi

Release Date: May 9, 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256 pages

Price: 990 yen (tax included)

Publisher: Daiwa Shobo Co., Ltd. https://www.daiwashobo.co.jp