Ikkun was told he had FOP, a rare refractory disease in the summer of 2006, when he was in the third grade.
FOP is intractable disease Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.
He has been fighting FOP, which is a disease with no cure. Ikkun expressed his disease in a poem called an “ASSIGNMENT FROM GOD” during his primary school days. In this picture book, Ikkun has been sending balloons. In his real life, he has been writing a blog every day and telling people about his disease. Though it’s not an easy assignment to solve, he has been working on it. By believing in himself, he knows he can solve it someday.
We want as many people as possible to know about FOP, the rare bone disease, and Ikkun who has been fighting it.
We hope that it will be an inspiration when you come across “a hard problem to solve” someday, somewhere.
FOP AKASHI Picture Book Staff