Tokyo News Tsushinsha is rolling out digital editions of works by manga artist Kiriko Nananan, starting with three titles on April 27, 2026. The initial release includes strawberry shortcakes, The Color of Candy Is Red, and Nananan Kiriko: Works Commentary Collection, available at major digital bookstores.
Kiriko Nananan debuted in 1993 and became known for her spare, beautifully rendered line art and stories that captured the universal emotions of men and women living in the city. Her works, including blue, Pumpkin and Mayonnaise, and strawberry shortcakes, were all adapted into films and drew devoted readers. Nananan passed away in 2024, but her influence on Japanese manga endures. In 2026, a full set of her titles is being made available digitally for the first time, spanning 12 works in total.
The complete digital release includes nine previously reissued titles from 2020, along with Nananan Kiriko: Works Commentary Collection, Nananan Kiriko: Uncollected Works Vol. 1, and Nananan Kiriko: Uncollected Works Vol. 2. Following the first wave, titles such as blue, Pumpkin and Mayonnaise, Water., Painful Love, Short Stories, Halchin 1, and Halchin 2 are scheduled for release.
strawberry shortcakes
strawberry shortcakes holds a special place in Nananan's body of work — she once said she became a manga artist in order to draw this story, describing it as an extension of herself. It was adapted into a film in 2006, in which Nananan herself played the character Toko.
The story follows four women living in Tokyo, each carrying a complex inner life: Toko, an illustrator struggling with binge eating; Chihiro, an office worker searching for a place to belong; Satoko, a part-time worker waiting for love to arrive; and Akiyo, a sex worker slipping away to see the man she loves. Their lives are rendered with painful delicacy, and the story finds its quiet meaning not in dramatic change but in the simple continuity of ordinary days.
- Release date: Rolling out from April 27, 2026
- Price: ¥1,980
- Publisher: Tokyo News Tsushinsha
The Color of Candy Is Red
Nananan herself named The Color of Candy Is Red as her personal favorite among her own works. It is a collection of 18 short stories from her later period, all drawn from the raw and relentless terrain of romantic love — desire, loneliness, dependence, hope, and despair, traced with unflinching honesty.
Included stories:
"Summer 2004"
"Ramones Punk"
"13 Years"
"Swimming Underwater"
"Marie in Love"
"Winter, Sunday Evening"
"Night, a Moment of Not Being Alone"
"The End of a Cohabitation"
"July 4th, August 12th, I Love This Jungle Called Tokyo"
"Moving On"
"An Older Woman and a Younger Man"
"A Spare Key"
"Happy Side Paranoia"
"A Love Letter"
"High-Cut Vans"
"Happiness"
"Not Every New Love Holds a Future"
"Summer 2006"
Release date: Rolling out from April 27, 2026
Price: ¥1,650
Publisher: Tokyo News Tsushinsha
Nananan Kiriko: Works Commentary Collection
For years, readers of Nananan's works were left with a persistent sense of mystery — threads that didn't quite resolve, endings that held something back. Nananan remained silent in response to those questions for a long time. This book, first published in 2020, represents her eventual answer.
The collection covers eight of her previously published manga volumes, with Nananan providing detailed commentary in her own words, including the subtext of each story and her state of mind at the time of writing. An interview in the book also marks the first time she spoke openly about her years of hiatus. The volume additionally reprints excerpts from past conversations with manga artist Fumiko Takano and writer Shu Fujisawa.
Contents:
Nananan Kiriko Works Chronology
Commentary on Water.
Commentary on blue
Commentary on Painful Love
Commentary on Halchin
Interview with Fumiko Takano
Commentary on Pumpkin and Mayonnaise
Commentary on Short Stories
Commentary on strawberry shortcakes.
Commentary on The Color of Candy Is Red
Interview with Shu Fujisawa
Nananan Kiriko interview / afterword
Release date: Rolling out from April 27, 2026
Price: ¥1,980
Publisher: Tokyo News Tsushinsha
All three titles are available at Amazon Kindle, Rakuten Kobo, Honto, and other digital bookstores. Availability dates may vary by platform. Note that the digital editions may differ from the print versions in some pages, articles, and photographs.
