What do you get when you add wood, peat, moss and heat? If you guessed pine tar, you guessed correct! But what you may not have guessed is that this is also the subject of a new cultural exchange being brought into Fukuoka’s children’s schools.
Finnish author Päivi Honkakoski’s children’s book ‘Tar Elf Toivo’ has been translated into Japanese with the help of a partnership between Fukuoka-based Rie and Hitonori Takaba, publisher Kaichosha and illustrator Ludi Wang. The first in an ongoing book series,it tells the story of Toivo, a young elf who dreams of becoming a tar maker like his grandfather. At first, Toivo is too young to join the other elves in learning the craft, but after showing bravery in fending off a saboteur who seeks to destroy the kiln, Toivo earns his place among the other elves and watches with pride as the pine tar he helped make pours out of the kiln.
Illustrator Ludi Wang
Tar making has a rich history in Finland, where this tale is set. It stretches back hundreds of years where small communities would use pine tar for a myriad of uses including waterproofing ships and as a vital ingredient in several medicines. With the dawn of metal ships and synthetic materials the uses for pine tar have diminished, but the traditions associated with its production are still very much alive in Finland. Every summer the smoke of tar kilns can be seen rising above the forests of the nordic nation.
Mrs. Takaba has donated several copies of the translated book to schools in Fukuoka in the hope that pine tar production can cement itself as a part of Finland’s heritage, and that Japanese schoolchildren will take this opportunity to learn about one of Europe’s most northerly nations. Ludi Wang, illustrator and translator of the book from Finnish to English, said that while the theme is specific to her native Oulu, this book gives children the chance to learn more about Finland as a whole. Through painstaking research each element of the story, from architecture to plants and animals, presents an authentic picture of a traditional Finland which, through a shared love of peace and nature, doesn’t seem so far away Japan – despite the fantastical creatures of course! Combining an authentic Finnish setting and fairytale character with the educational content of a specific cultural tradition, the translated book hopes to present a new dimension to international learning in Fukuoka.
Ludi and translator Mrs. Takaba outside publisher Kaichosha
Book information
Name: タールの妖精 トイボ (Tar Elf Toivo)
Author: Päivi Honkakoski
Illustrator: Ludi Wang
Translated by: Rie Takaba, Hitonori Takaba
Publisher: Kaichosha
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tervatonttutoivo/
