- Graphic Novels
- Ages 8–12
- Adventure
Journey to Tomioka
Two years after the Fukushima disaster, a brother and sister slip into the evacuated zone to lay their grandmother's ashes at the family altar in Tomioka, guided by folklore and haunted by yokai born of the fallout. A tender, atmospheric road-trip through a landscape nature is quietly reclaiming.
- Best for8–12
- FormatGraphic
- Length112 pp
- Read aloud~53 min
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Literary
- Conversational
Tone
- Bittersweet
- Adventurous
- Thought provoking
- Melancholic
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The tsunami that struck Fukushima took Osamu's parents and destroyed his home, triggering one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. Now he and his older sister Akiko live with their grandmother on the edge of the exclusion zone, picking radiation-safe paths to school and leaving small offerings for the spirits along the way. When their grandmother dies, the two children resolve to carry her ashes home to the family farm in Tomioka, deep inside the forbidden zone. Their journey takes them past abandoned villages where the forest is swallowing the streets, trailed by a butterfly-obsessed policeman and their exasperated city uncle, and into the company of a strange new yokai conjured from the poisoned land. Winner of the Youth Prize at Angoulême, Laurent Galandon and Michaël Crouzat's graphic novel blends Japanese folklore with a real and recent tragedy, finding wonder, grief and quiet hope in a place the world tried to forget.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
A middle-grade graphic novel best suited to confident readers of 8-12, who can handle its themes of death and disaster. It reads independently but rewards a parent nearby to talk it through, and its craft and subject give it genuine adult crossover appeal.
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- Best fit · 8–12
- Read aloud · 8–11
- Independent · 8–12
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Patchy
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: death of parent, death of character, grief, scary imagery.
Bedtime suitability
1 / 5 · Wide awake
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
2 / 5 · Mild
Best for
- Thoughtful readers
- Graphic novel fans
- Japanese culture
- Atmospheric stories
Avoid if
- Wants light fun
- Sensitive to death
- Wants calm bedtime
Particularly good for children who are…
- Bereavement
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Sneaking past checkpoints into an off-limits ghost town, meeting yokai that hide in the overgrown streets, and racing to carry Grandma home makes this feel like a real, dangerous adventure. The strange radioactive spirit and the crumbling, plant-covered houses are eerie in the best way.
- Going on a quest
- Adventure and freedom
- Surviving danger
Why parents love it
It handles a real tragedy with restraint and beauty, weaving yokai mythology through a story about loss, roots and letting go. The art is extraordinary, and the quiet reveal of nature reclaiming an evacuated town gives older children plenty to talk about long after the last page.
- Beautiful illustrations
- Conversation starter
- Great writing
- Cultural representation
About the creators
About the creators.
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