If this is not love, what is?
More of Misao and Fukumaru.
Ihara Misao lives a peaceful life in the countryside with her beloved cat, Fukumaru. Her granddaughter Miyoko recently published a charming collection of photographs of the two inseparable friends that has struck a chord with people all over Japan.
They have been together 9 years, ever since Fukumaru was found deaf and abandoned in a barn, and have spent every moment together since that day. When Misao found him, she named him Fukumaru “in hope that ‘God of fuku’ (good fortune) comes and everything will be smoothed like a ‘maru’ (circle).” (Asian Offbeat)
“Partly because they are both hard of hearing, my grandmother and Fukumaru are always looking into each others eyes. They’re really close,” Miaso tells Fukumaru “We will never be apart.” Miyoko says. “Fukumaru is so happy and contented at my grandmother’s side. When I take a picture of the two of them together it’s like I’m photographing myself as a little girl.”
Misao the Big Mama and Fukumaru the Cat
by Miyoko Ihara
Published by Little More Books, 2011
Hardcover, 64 pages
ISBN : 978-4-89815-319-2
3,800 yen (Approx $48USD)
Copies are available through the publisher and at, in small numbers, at Amazon.uk. A few copies are also listed at ebay, though they are difficult to pin down. A search at ABE did not turn up any copies.
You can see more of Miyoko Ihara’s photographs at her website HERE. Click on the white arrows; each goes to a different series of photographs.
To first post, Misao and Fukumaru. “We will never be apart.”
sources: lovemeow.com
