Fuko was born in the autumn of 2000, the turn of the millennium, as the first child of the Setoguchi family in Saga Prefecture.

At the age of 4, she was diagnosed with severe autism accompanied by an intellectual disability.

Her mother, Yasuko, made a quiet resolve: “I will make the road ahead for this child as rich in joy as I possibly can.”

As dusk approached, the young girl would almost invariably begin to cry uncontrollably.

She seemed gripped by an intense anxiety that nothing anyone did could ease.

Yasuko, too, found herself dreading the approach of evening, her own heart darkening at the thought of what was to........

© The Asahi Shimbun