Nono-chan (ののちゃん) is a yonkoma manga series begun in 1991 by Hisaichi Ishii originally serialized as My Neighbors the Yamadas (となりのやまだ君) in the Asahi Shimbun in Japan. When the series first began, it was generally focused on all of the members of the Yamada family. As the series progressed, the daughter (Nonoko, or "Nono-chan") became the most popular character among readers and more of the strips focused on her and her point of view. In 1997, the series title was changed to reflect this change of focus. In July 1999, Studio Ghibli released My Neighbors the Yamadas, a film based on this series. From 2001 to 2002, a 61 episode anime television series based on the manga was shown on the TV Asahi network in Japan.

Characters

Yamada family

Studio Ghibli film

Appointed as Tamano City mascot character

With Ishii's cooperation,Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, where Hisaichi Ishii is from, appointed Nono-chan as the city's image character in 2010, the 70th anniversary of the city's incorporation. A costume was made for Nono-chan, and she appears at local character events in the same way as other municipal mascot characters (Yuru-chara). In addition, a special edition, "Tamano Nono Nono-chan," is currently being serialized in the "Tamano Public Relations" magazine. In July 2010, the government began issuing license plates featuring Nono-chan for motorized bicycles.