The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama

There are several people who could use the help of the plastic hippo that resides in a park in a Tokyo neighborhood. Kabahiko the hippo is said to be able to help people in their time of need, just by the person touching him. The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park recounts the five people Kabahiko helps who all live in the five story building Advance Hill. There's Kanato (a student who is not doing well in his new school despite getting good grades at his previous one), Sawa (who struggles to fit in with the mom clique at her daughter's school) , Chiharu (a wedding planner who had to take a medical leave from work due to ear problems), ten-year old Yuyu (another recent transplant to the area who fakes an injury that then becomes real) and, lastly, Kazuhiko (who wants to improve his relationship with his mother who lives nearby). A cozy story similar to the Kamogawa Food Detectives series.