Nontan[a] is the protagonist of an eponymous series of children's picture books written by Sachiko Kiyono (キヨノサチコ).

[2] In the series, Nontan is a mischievous male kitten who likes to play and learn about the world around him.

Other characters include Buta-san, the rabbit triplets, Tanuki-san, Kuma-san, Hachi-san, and Nontan's little sister Tartan.

When the series first appeared, it was criticized for lacking clear lessons, with some fearing it would promote bad behaviour thus leading the character being a poor role model to children,[1] According to the psychologist Takashi Tomita (富田たかし), this is due to the fact that Nontan had some bad traits and occasionally failed that children were able to feel close to him.

[4] Kiyono died of a brain tumor on 19 June 2008 at age 60, but her death was not announced until December of that year.

After that, the character was changed to a cat and the book was renamed to Akanbe Dora-kun (あかんべどらくん).

However, the word "Dora-kun" was difficult for children to pronounce, so the character was renamed to Nontan, which was the name of Kiyono's daughter.

[8] In 2002, French versions of 4 Nontan books have been published by Nathan, with the character being renamed to Miouki.

Nontan is a mischievous male kitten who likes to play and learn about the world around him.

An anime series, titled Nontan to Issho[f] ran from 1992 to 1994 on Fuji TV's children's program Ugōgorūga.

November 25, 1994 (SFC) Character products have been temporarily released, such as at the time of Nontan to Issho's broadcast.