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July 10, 2026
Series: Akiko Shibunai's "The Color of Memory" | Green Leaves, a Cat Running in the Rain, and Lily of the Valley
LOUNGE | Series: Akiko Shibauchi's "The Color of Memory"
The author has always connected with animals as beings that enrich life, even before the concept of companion animals became common in Japan. This is a gentle, colorful essay from childhood to the present, written as the director of Akasaka Animal Hospital and as an individual.
Text & Photograph by AKIKO SHIBAUCHI
Lily of the Valley's "Pearls"
The sight of lily of the valley transports me back to a distant past.
I was in elementary school. It was a rainy day from morning, on a spring day that should have felt like the beginning of summer. Feeling the pre-summer mood, I went out wearing just a cardigan, but the chill made me uneasy. It was a day of a white sky dominated by rain. On days like this, the rain doesn't move. It doesn't clear up partway through or ease up.
That day, I went grocery shopping for the first time in a while and also picked out some flowers. I love branch flowers and small blossoms, and many caught my eye: Blue Star, Dianthus, Deutzia, Kerria japonica, Phlox, Astilbe, Astrantia, Green Bell, Eupatorium, and Allium. Given the season, I chose a few stems of lily of the valley. I also brought home some pinkish-purple lilac blossoms.
I lived in a detached house at the time, and on the gravel path in front of my house, I encountered a thin, ginger cat. Carrying a red umbrella on my shoulder, I followed the cat's "quick trot." I turned down several streets in the residential area, following the thin cat that occasionally looked back as if to check on me, trying not to fall behind. The cat's pace was fast, and its fur, matted by the rain, made its thin body look even thinner. Mud splattered its paws, making them dirty.
The cat finally jumped onto a high wall around a corner and disappeared beyond it. The wall was sheltered by the house's roof, and the air seemed warmer there. I heard faint, high-pitched, delicate cries, multiple and tiny. Perhaps it was the mother cat.
At my feet, where I had lost sight of the cat, lily of the valley was growing wild. I was surprised by a small cluster of them. The flowers were round like water droplets, and enchanting like pearls. I considered taking a few, but it felt wrong to pick them. In the rain, amidst the green weeds, I found one "lily of the valley pearl" and carefully took just that one home.
When I returned home, I placed the "pearl" in a small, clear acrylic box, about two centimeters square, colored pale pink and blue, with a cotton ball soaked in water. It became a treasure that deeply touched my heart. Even now, late spring rain and lily of the valley bring back the image of that thin cat and a special feeling.
Akiko Shibauchi
Director of Akasaka Animal Hospital. After graduating from Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences, she worked in various positions, including the Clinical Pathology Laboratory at Nihon Veterinary and Zootechnical University, before becoming director of Akasaka Animal Hospital in 2016. As the third-generation director, following her father and mother, she promotes companion animal medicine and veterinary care centered on the "Human-Animal Bond." Her specialties include internal medicine, general surgery, and regenerative medicine. She has also served as a former member of the Veterinary Affairs Council of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences. She is also dedicated to social contribution through veterinary medicine, such as supporting the coexistence of the elderly and animals, and animal therapy activities, with the lifelong theme of "creating a society where people and animals can live happily together."
Director of Akasaka Animal Hospital. After graduating from Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences, she worked in various positions, including the Clinical Pathology Laboratory at Nihon Veterinary and Zootechnical University, before becoming director of Akasaka Animal Hospital in 2016. As the third-generation director, following her father and mother, she promotes companion animal medicine and veterinary care centered on the "Human-Animal Bond." Her specialties include internal medicine, general surgery, and regenerative medicine. She has also served as a former member of the Veterinary Affairs Council of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences. She is also dedicated to social contribution through veterinary medicine, such as supporting the coexistence of the elderly and animals, and animal therapy activities, with the lifelong theme of "creating a society where people and animals can live happily together."