Aya Kitō Ikeuchi, Her Tragedy and Inspiration in 1 Liter of Tears

"...People shouldn’t dwell on the past. It's enough to try your best in all that you're doing now. Reality is too cruel, too brutal..." - Aya Kitō Ikeuchi

1 Litre no Namida - 1 Liter of Tears (TV series)

At some point in our life we will encounter something that we can't ever imagine happening to us. At some point in that event there are times when we would just like to die and surrender because of the pain and suffering that we are felling. Aya Kitō, the person being portrayed in 1 Liter of Tears (1 Litre no Namida, Ichi Rittoru no Namida, A Diary with Tears or A Diary of Tears) is a 15-year old Japanese girl diagnosed with a disease called spinocerebellar Degeneration. The disease causes the person to lose control over their body, but because the person can retain all mental ability the disease acts as a prison. Aya discovers this disastrous news as the disease has already developed. There is no cure.

How would you feel if you are this person who had been a very active student not only in academics but also in sports? What will you do if one day you can no longer do the things you love to do and you will be the talk f everyone?

As a parent, how would you react seeing your child suffering from such a pain? What will you do if you will find out that he/she can die anytime? How will you maintain the family amidst all that is happening?

The story of Aya Kitō and the life that she lead was sure to be an inspiration to everyone. Despite her disease she manage to be strong and smile everyday. She was such an inspiration that the movie, the tv series and the diary publication of her life was sold out.

Her diary was published shortly before her death. The diary, a true story based on her own life, was originally written in first person. It is about a girl coping with her teenage life along with a degenerative disease. She keeps a diary of not only what she does but how she feels and the hardships she must endure. Initially, the diary's purpose was for Kitô to chronicle impressions she had about how the disease was affecting her daily life. As the disease progressed, however, the diary became Kitô's outlet for describing the intense personal struggles she underwent in coping, adapting, and ultimately trying to survive her disease. As she notes in one entry, "I write because writing is evidence that I am still alive." (English Translation of Aya's Diary)

Through family, medical examinations and rehabilitations, and finally succumbing to the disease, Aya must cope with the disease and live on with life until her death at the age of 25. She was born July 19, 1962 and died May 23, 1988.

Here is an excerpt from Aya's Diary:

“If I were a flower, then now I would be a bud.
I shall treasure the beginning of my youth without any regrets.
This disease, why did it choose me?
Fate. It can't be put into words.
I want to make a time machine and go back in time.
If it wasn't for this disease,
not only I could enjoy falling in love but I also
wouldn’t have to rely on anyone and live by myself.
I really don't want to say things such as 'I want to go back to how things were before.'
I recognize how I am right now, and I will continue to live on.
Therefore I definitely won't run away.
That's what I’ll do. Definitely, always.
Even if it's like that, I still want to stay here.
because this is the place where I am.
If you look up at the sky after falling down the blue sky is also today
stretching limitlessly and smiles at me...I'm alive.
People shouldn’t dwell on the past. It's enough
to try your best in all that you're doing now.
Reality is too cruel, too brutal.
I don’t even have the right to dream.
As i think about the future, the tears will come out again."

“Mom, can I get married?”

The diary, 1 Litre of Tears, that Aya had been writing in since she was 15 has sold 18 million copies. Even after 29 years it still continues to give a lot of people courage.

To view a SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF AYA IKEUCHI CLICK HERE

Here are some VIDEO TRIBUTES TO Aya Kitō Ikeuchi. Indeed as one video said "Some Heroes are Only Humans":

"As I think about the future the tears will come out again." - Aya Kitō Ikeuchi

1 Litre OF Tears "No Regrets" (Matsu no Yoru no Yume)

"If you look up at the sky after falling down the blue sky is also today stretching limitlessly and smiles at me... I'm alive." - Aya Kitō Ikeuchi

Here is the scene from the TV Series One Liter of Tears which is among the two most memorable scenes in that series. The first one is a performance of 3gatsu 9ka by Aya's class under the conduct of Aya himself.



This second singing of 3gatsu 9ka is taken from a scene in One Liter of Tears when Aya is about to leave for the school for the disabled. Truly friendship comes in memorable ways and it is hard to leave your real friends.



A life can never be so sad for we only need to see the good things out of every sorrow, sadness and problem. If in a life so difficult that Aya Kitou and her family faced they can still see the good things then why can't we. Truly Aya had invisible wings as this next video tribute inspires.



In the TV series Haruto and Aya shared great times together and Haruto and Aya even fell in love with each other. Although in actual life Aya has no real Haruto, his addition to the story does not depict the usual love concept but Haruto is more of a depiction of how people did care for Aya and how someone should really care for someone like here. Here is a video showing those moments together.



This last video tribute shows the sad truth about Aya's disease and brings us to the struggle which she faces all throughout her life until she succumbs to her sickness at the age of 25.



I am hoping that Aya Kitō Ikeuchi's life will inspire you as it had inspire mine. Thanks for reading.


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