Dearest Okame

When your inevitable final day together actually arrives…

Kinako Oga’s well-received “Dog Diary” has now been published with 50 additional pages.
 

Okame was a female miniature dachshund. She was rescued from her life as a breeding dog at age four to become the author’s first dog. Then, a stray dog named Gi was added to the family when Okame was 10. It was now a family of four: two dogs, Oga, and her husband. But suddenly, Okame grew unable to eat.

I met Okame before her illness was discovered. Okame was small, but with a human-like intensity in her eyes. It seemed to me as if Okame was actually Oga’s bodyguard. I cried numerous times throughout the process of editing this book, both while working on it or simply when thinking about it. The story moved me deeply even though I myself have never owned a dog. I believe Okame’s strength helped us finish this book.