Sanseido Bookstore Nagoya Hosts Pop-Up for Michiko Aoyama's The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park, With Limited-Time Kabahiko Merchandise

A gentle, linked collection of short stories that speaks to the everyday worries we all carry.

Michiko Aoyama's novel The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park, a nominee for the 2024 Honya Taisho (Japan's Booksellers' Award) that drew wide attention, arrived in a long-awaited paperback edition from Kobunsha on May 12, 2026. Now the popular "Kabahiko Park" pop-up is coming to Nagoya.

The novel actually has deep ties to the city. Kabahiko was inspired by a real, weathered hippo-shaped ride that once stood in a park within a Nagoya housing complex — a fixture that had watched over the local community since around 1968. In this place so closely connected to both Aoyama and Kabahiko, a pop-up event is set to open.

Synopsis

At the newly built condominium Advance Hill, a longstanding hippo-shaped animal ride sits in nearby Hinode Park. According to local lore, touching the part of its body that corresponds to whatever ails you will help it heal — earning the ride its name, The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park. One by one, the building's residents come to confide their troubles in Kabahiko...

Sanseido Bookstore Nagoya Main Store x Kobunsha Collaboration Event

Sanseido Bookstore Nagoya Main Store is setting up both a "Kabahiko Park" and a "Recovery Cafe" inside the store. At Kabahiko Park, visitors are greeted by Kabahiko himself and can step into a space that recreates the world of the novel. The park includes a "Recovery Board" where guests can post the worries they'd like to share with Kabahiko, along with a dedicated mailbox for sending messages to Michiko Aoyama — visitors are encouraged to drop in a letter. At the adjoining BOOK & CAFÉ UCC "Recovery Cafe," customers receive a Nagoya-limited original coaster and a Kabahiko sticker with their order (while supplies last).

Kabahiko Park / Recovery Cafe

Dates: September 9 (Wednesday), 2026, 10 AM through September 23 (Wednesday, national holiday), 2026, 5 PM

Nagoya-limited original coaster

Kabahiko sticker

Pop-Up Exclusive Bonus

Purchase The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park (hardcover or paperback edition) during the event period and receive a pop-up-exclusive book cover sticker.

Bonus book cover sticker

New Kabahiko Merchandise, Available for a Limited Time

Kabahiko One-Point Healing T-Shirt

Price: ¥4,620 (tax included)

A simple, cute Kabahiko T-shirt with an eye-catching one-point design on the chest.

Kabahiko Mini Mini Acrylic Stand Keychain

Price: ¥1,200 (tax included)

A 2-way acrylic Kabahiko charm to keep you company through everyday life.

Kabahiko Natural Sketch Tote Bag

Price: ¥3,850 (tax included)

Roomy enough for A4-size items, this Kabahiko tote is ready to carry your everyday essentials.

About the Author

Michiko Aoyama

Born in 1970 in Aichi Prefecture; now lives in Yokohama.

After graduating from university, Aoyama worked as a reporter for a Japanese-affiliated publisher in Sydney before moving into magazine editing and beginning her own writing career. She debuted as a novelist in 2017 with 『木曜日にはココアを』, which received an award at the 1st Miraiya Novel Award and won the 1st Miyazaki Book Award. Five of her works — What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, 『赤と青とエスキース』, 『月の立つ林で』, The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park, and 『人魚が逃げた』 — were nominated for the Honya Taisho for five consecutive years. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library was also selected as the only work by a Japanese author on TIME magazine's 2023 list of 100 Must-Read Books. Her other works include 『鎌倉うずまき案内所』, 『月曜日の抹茶カフェ』, and 『チョコレート・ピース』, among many others.