OKAYAMA—The effects of painkillers and cancer treatment slowed the physical activities of a normally rambunctious child, but she kept smiling and continued to hold hopes for a recovery.

However, Shoka Morikami would never fulfill her dream of going on a picnic again with her family. Nor would she see another Christmas, her favorite time of the year.

Shoka, 12, died in January at Okayama University Hospital.

But late into her six-year battle against cancer, she managed to leave a Christmas gift for hundreds of other sick children at hospitals around Japan.

The girl produced an illustrated book that reflects her never-quit spirit, and 2,000 copies were published in time for delivery from Santa Claus.

‘I WILL GET CURED’

Shoka, who lived in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, was a healthy child who could not sit still. She was the fastest runner among her friends at a nursery school, and she loved to play outside.

One winter, just before she was to turn 6, her mother, Yoshie, noticed an egg-sized lump on Shoka’s left leg after she took a bath.

A complete medical checkup revealed that Shoka had rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer. She had been constantly in and out of the hospital since the diagnosis.

“I will get cured and return home,” Shoka would say. She was never reluctant to undergo an examination or receive an injection.

Even when Shoka started losing her hair from the side effects of anti-cancer drugs, she laughed and said, “It’s all right.” She took off her woolen hat and ran around the pediatric ward.

During a Christmas party at the ward, Shoka dressed up as Santa Claus and delivered gifts that she had received to younger children.

Yoshie, now 50, said she did not know until later that Shoka had told people around her, “If I didn’t keep well, my mother would feel sad.”

FAVA BEAN FAMILY

But after the cancer treatment sapped Shoka’s strength, she had difficulty standing up. She spent more time in bed, drawing pictures and folding origami papers.

In summer 2018, Hitomi Tsuji, a 32-year-old child care worker who took care of Shoka in the hospital’s pediatric ward, encouraged her to make an illustrated book.

Shoka came up with a story about a family of “soramame” (fava bean). She named the protagonist “Soramame-san.”

In the story, Soramame-san goes on a picnic with family members, eats a bento and even experiences skydiving.

“She must have remembered the time she went for a nursery outing,” Yoshie said of her daughter. “Soramame-san is a character that very much personifies Shoka, who always smiled.”

Dosed up on painkillers, Shoka could spend only a limited time working on the illustrations.

On the advice of Tsuji, Shoka painted the sole of her foot in green, her favorite color, and used her footprint to form the shape of Soramame-san.

Shoka completed nine drawings in three months. She also wrote the text that accompanied the pictures.

In one scene, Shoka wrote: “Soramame-san and her family arrive in at the ‘soramame ground.’ They lay out a picnic sheet. Together, they say, ‘Itadakimasu’ (Let’s eat).”

Shoka was ecstatic with her work and said, “I will do my best for the second illustration book.”

But at the start of this year, Shoka’s condition took a sudden turn for the worse.

“I don’t want to die just yet,” Shoka said while grabbing the frame of her bed to try to sit up.

Her battle ended on the morning of Jan. 25, when she deeply exhaled her final breath.

‘EVIDENCE OF HER LIFE’

“The illustrated book is evidence of Shoka’s life,” Tsuji said. “I want many people to read this heartwarming story.”

Determined to publish the illustrated book, Tsuji and three others started a crowdfunding campaign in August.

Within three months, they collected donations from 336 people and raised about 3 million yen ($26,780), nearly two times their initial goal.

On Dec. 18, Shoka’s parents, nurses and others gathered at an office of a nonprofit organization in Okayama that had supported the campaign. The office contained 2,000 newly printed copies of Shoka’s book, “Soramame Kazoku no Pikunikku” (Soramame family’s picnic).

With tears in his eyes, Shoka’s father, Hironori, 45, talked to his daughter in a photograph: “Shoka, your book was completed. Finally, you will have many people read it.”

Copies of the book will be delivered as Christmas gifts to about 400 pediatric wards at hospitals and other facilities nationwide.

Yoshie said Shoka looked forward to Christmas time every year.

“I want to deliver her cheerful spirit (to these kids),” she said.

The 21-page illustrated book, self-published by Kibito Inc., costs 1,300 yen plus tax.