Toshiko Takagi is the author of the 1977 novel Garasu no Usagi, known in English as The Glass Rabbit, which serves as the foundational work for several adaptations, including a 2005 anime film of the same name. The story is a semi-autobiographical account drawn from her experiences as a young girl in Japan during World War II. Born in Tokyo, Takagi was the eldest daughter of an artisan who specialized in Edo cut glass. In March 1945, she lost her mother and two younger sisters in the Great Tokyo Air Raid; months later, at the age of 13, she witnessed her father’s death in a strafing attack by a warplane at a train station. Following these losses, she briefly walked into the sea in despair but resolved to live, later writing the story to fulfill what she described as a sense of mission to convey the tragic realities of war.

The novel Garasu no Usagi was published by Kōdansha, and its lasting impact is evident in its sales of approximately 2.2 million copies and translations into nine languages. The story centers on a young girl named Toshiko Ei, whose family endures the hardships of the war; after losing her family, she finds a glass rabbit, melted and deformed by the firebombing, which becomes a symbol of the conflict's devastating heat and her personal loss. Takagi’s work has been adapted into a film, television programs, and an anime. The anime film adaptation, titled The Glass Rabbit, was produced by the studio Magic Bus and released in 2005, with Toshiko Takagi credited for the original story. Regarding the adaptation, she initially hesitated to allow the story to be animated but agreed on the condition that the air raid scenes be depicted accurately and that her character’s reaction to Japan’s post-war pacifist constitution be included. Her creative identity is closely tied to this autobiographical narrative, and her public work has focused on using her story to advocate for peace and ensure the memories of the war are preserved for younger generations.