The cover of Vietnamese bestseller entitled Cho Tôi Xin Một Vé Đi Tuổi Thơ (Give Me a Ticket to Childhood) that was recently released in Japan. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese book Cho Tôi Xin Một Vé Đi Tuổi Thơ (Give Me a Ticket to Childhood) by top children’s author Nguyễn Nhật Ánh has been released in Japan by Japanese Publishing House Nikkei.

The Japanese version also includes the story Đi Qua Hoa Cúc (Passing by Daisies) by the same author.

It is the fourth time the Vietnamese bestseller has been translated into a foreign language and published abroad. Before that, it was translated into Thai in 2011, Korean in 2013, and English in 2014.

Ánh also had Mắc Biếc (Dreamy Eye) in 2004 and Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh (I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass) in 2017 translated into Japanese.

In Việt Nam, Passing by Daisies has been reprinted nearly 30 times with more than 100,000 copies, while Give Me a Ticket to Childhood has been reprinted nearly 70 times with more than 420,000 copies.

“Just by reading the two titles of the books, you can also imagine my feelings. That is the childhood obsession. I think any of us, you and I, have fond memories of childhood -- the part of life that time has taken from us and will never be returned,” Ánh wrote to Japanese readers in the foreword to the book.

“Therefore, writing about my childhood is the only way for me to recollect the memories that have sunk deep in the bottom of time, to reappear those beautiful days and to place them on the page as delicious treats that will stay with us forever. Maybe it is childhood that has borrowed my hand to do all things,” he added.

"The author Nguyễn Nhật Ánh is one of the best-selling authors in Việt Nam. The story Give Me a Ticket to My Childhood won the ASEAN Literature Award in 2010. Passing by Daisies printed in the book is also an excellent youth story. We hope that this book will contribute to promoting Japan-Vietnam mutual understanding and enhances the closeness of the two countries,” Daido Life foundation, which is dedicated to introducing modern works of literature from neighbouring Asian countries to Japanese readers, said about the book.

Give Me a Ticket to My Childhood tells the story of an eight-year-old boy called Mùi. Soon realising that life is boring, he wants to break the tediousness with his friends. Then Mùi becomes an old man and finds life is even more boring, so he wants to return to his childhood.

Meanwhile Passing by Daisies, considered part two of Dreamy Eyes, is the story of a beautiful unilateral but fading love of a boy named Trường with Nga. Years later, on the train back to his hometown, Trường bumps into Nga and realises that his passionate one-sided love had already disappeared and that passionate pure love could only be found in childhood.

Ánh was born in 1955 in Đo Đo Village in the central province of Quảng Nam. His passion for reading and writing has blossomed since childhood.

He had his first works published in newspapers at the age of 13.  Over 35 years of writing, the author has published more than 100 books.

He has also been a senior journalist of Sài Gòn Giải Phóng Chủ Nhật (The Sunday edition of Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper. — VNS