Yō Fukaya publishes volume of his manga about his 93-year-old father

Manga artist Yō Fukaya (59), born in Ishikawa and based in Fukushima, publishes his first collected volume today. The book is titled Chichi to kurasu: 90-sai no chichi to hajimeru futari kurashi and is published by KADOKAWA at a price of 1,650 yen.

The volume collects the series Fukaya has been posting on X (formerly Twitter) since 2024. In it, he tells the story of his daily life with his father, Iwao, who is 93. "If readers can relax a little and let out a sigh of relief, I'll be glad," the author says.

A life together that began in 2023

Father and son have lived together since 2023. After his mother's death, Fukaya left Tokyo and returned to Fukushima to care for his father, who had been left alone. He goes with him to the doctor and on walks, and prepares his meals.

"I'm going to write about the closest subject I have," he told himself. He began drawing Iwao's day-to-day life and the conversations between them, and posting them on social media. Since June of last year, the newspaper Minyū Shimbun has published a version adapted for readers in the prefecture.

The manga captures what the author finds striking about his father: things he says that surprise him, gestures he notices. Also the awkward moments of living together. "When I draw them, they get sorted out and become something funny or endearing," he explains. It is work he does, above all, for himself.

A volume with 120 chapters and new material

The collected edition includes around 120 installments posted on X and several new, somewhat longer chapters. On social media, the series has received messages from people who live with their parents or who have already said goodbye to them.

One of the episodes that got the most response was the visit to a gyōza restaurant in the city of Fukushima. Iwao, who eats little, ate heartily. Although the father's health is a concern, the stories always end with relief, with something that saves the day.

"I wanted to publish it while my father had the strength and focus to read it with me. I feel relieved," Fukaya says about the volume's release.

Iwao's life today

Iwao laughs and admits it makes him "a little embarrassed." But he adds: "I think a manga about someone like me, an older person who can no longer move as he would like, has social value." These days he spends his time playing with his cat Subaru and playing go on his phone. He also enjoys walks around the neighborhood in the wheelchair pushed by his son.

Fukaya is already thinking about how to continue. "I wonder if I'll be able to draw it with this atmosphere, without it becoming depressing," he confesses. And he goes further: "Since we started living together, the memories we share keep growing. But sometimes I think that one day my father will be gone and those memories will be mine alone, and it scares me."

"There are moments when I feel that it doesn't matter if he can't do anything or can't speak, just having him here is enough. My father said the same about my mother in her final years. I don't know how I'll feel later on, but I want to draw what I feel exactly as I feel it."

The volume goes on sale today in Japan. Does a story like this, told from the intimacy of a son caring for his father, appeal to you? Tell us in the comments.