Yubin Haitatsu to Yoru no Kuni (The Postman and the Land of the Night)

A young girl, who lives alone in the “land of the night,” sets off on a trip with the postman to cope with the boredom of not receiving any mail. At the end of the trip, which also proves to be boring, she learns something about the realities of the world. The title work and other stories in this collection are set somewhere between fantasy and everyday life. In them the author portrays children as they pass through var ious stages of maturity, with delicate and heartwarming illustrations and narratives.