Voice actress and singer Aoi Yūki announced on Tuesday that she will be reading out children's stories for the parents and children who are cooped up at home due to social distancing measures. Her first project will be Buying Mittens by Nankichi Niimi.

Buying Mittens was first published in 1943 after Niimi's death the same year. An English translation of the story published by Hawaii Press in 1999 describes the plot as follows:

When a cold winter comes to the forest, a little fox awakens one morning to the magic of a first snowfall. His romp in the snow is cut short, however, when his cold, wet paws turn peony colored. What he needs, his mother decides, are some woolen mittens the size of his little paws. So begins an overnight journey into a village where humans live to buy a pair of mittens and where, along the way, the little fox learns that people are more complicated creatures than he thought. Buying Mittens is a classic story that has charmed Japanese children for generations. Written by one of Japan's most beloved authors, it has the timeless quality of a folktale that will speak across cultures. Enchanting illustrations illuminate this gentle tale of a mother's tenderness and a child's new discoveries.

Yūki said that she was inspired to read out children's story after hearing about a president who read aloud picture books for children stuck at home, presumably referring to the actions of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

Fellow voice actress Nozomi Kasuga started a temporary YouTube channel for people in self-quarantine, while Kotori Koiwai released a free BGM track on YouTube with a "healing" theme to help soothe people.

Aoi Yūki has shown herself to be incredibly versatile since her voice acting debut about a decade ago. Some of her most popular roles are Yūki (Sword Art Online II), Tanya Degurechaff (Saga of Tanya the Evil), Hibiki Tachibana (Senki Zesshō Symphogear), and Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica).

Source: Aoi Yūki's Twitter account