At the "Rubens: The Glorious Antwerp Workshop and the Italian Origins" exhibition at Bunkamura the Museum in Shibuya, Tokyo (organized by The Mainichi Newspapers and others, open daily through the 21st), actor Shosuke Tanihara narrates the audio guide. His Rubens exhibition feature ran in The Mainichi Newspapers on April 6= photo upper; among memories of Rubens, Tanihara also mentioned "A Dog of Flanders."
The original "A Dog of Flanders" is 19th-century children's literature by the British writer Ouida. First published in Japan in 1908 (Meiji 41), Nero was renamed "Kiyoshi" and Patrasche "Buchi" to suit Japanese readers — how times change. Countless books and picture books have followed.
It is published in Belgium too, but is not very famous there; reception is said to contrast sharply with Japan. According to Excite News (May 10, 2007), "Some Belgians even criticize it, saying 'We would never let a child starve to death.'" Nero is forbidden to be close to the farmer's daughter Aloise; he is falsely blamed for a windmill fire; the farmer reforms when Nero returns a handbag with all his wealth — but too late... Locals in Flanders may well find such a story unappealing.
Ryo Tarō Shiba discussed "A Dog of Flanders" in "Going Along the Highway 35: Dutch Journey," citing Sumiko Yokokawa of the Osaka International Children's Literature Library: "At fifteen, why didn't he boldly carve out his own life?" — one view. In the anime Nero is 10; in the original he is 15. That may be the decisive difference.
There was no local monument until Japanese tourists kept talking about it, perhaps; in 1986 a bronze statue of Nero and Patrasche= photo lower left = was erected in Hoboken village near Antwerp, said to be the story's setting, and in 2003 a memorial in Japanese= photo lower right = was placed in the square before Antwerp Notre-Dame Cathedral. For detailed information including local efforts to spread the story, see the Belgian NPO "A Dog of Flanders Information Center" site (http://www.a-dog-of-flanders.org/1-3-1.html).
