At the age of 15, in her third year of junior high school, she complained of frequent falls and other physical problems, and was examined at Koseikai Hospital.

Later, doctors diagnosed her with spinocerebellar ataxia, an intractable disease that gradually deprives a person of freedom of limbs and speech and eventually causes the loss of all motor functions of the body.

Kitō had the incurable disease for 10 years and experienced both emotional and physical pain, which was subsequently stressful to her family as well.

The book received a great response, especially in Aichi Prefecture and other parts of the Tōkai region, and was published in bunkobon form by Gentosha in February 2005.

In October 2011, Professor Hirokazu Hirai and his research group at Gunma University announced that they had elucidated part of the mechanism by which spinocerebellar ataxia develops in mouse experiments.