Editing Yotsuba&! (section)

== Plot ==
{{main|List of Yotsuba&! characters{{!}}List of ''Yotsuba&!'' characters}}
''Yotsuba&!'' is centered on [[Yotsuba Koiwai]], a <!-- yes FIVE - read the note -->five-year-old<ref name="age">Initially, she claims to be six years old, but this is corrected by her father in chapter 36: {{cite book | last=Azuma | first=Kiyohiko | author-link=Kiyohiko Azuma | title=Yotsuba&! | series=Volume 11 | publisher=[[Yen Press]] | location=New York | isbn=978-0-316-07324-0 | page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316073899/page/46 46] | chapter=Chapter 36: Yotsuba & Bicycles | date=September 2009 | orig-year=31 December 2006 | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316073899/page/46 }}</ref> girl who is energetic, cheerful, curious, odd, and quirky—so much so that even her own father calls her unusual. She is also initially ignorant about many things that a child her age would be expected to know—among them doorbells, escalators, air conditioners, and even playground swings.<ref>Doorbells: chapters 2 and 4; escalators: chapter&nbsp;5; air conditioners: chapter&nbsp;3; swings: chapter&nbsp;1; in {{cite book | last=Azuma | first=Kiyohiko | author-link=Kiyohiko Azuma | title=Yotsuba&! | series=Volume 1 | year=2005 | publisher=[[ADV Manga]] | isbn=978-1-4139-0317-1 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/yotsubaazum01azum }}</ref> This [[Wiktionary:naïveté|naïveté]] is the premise of humorous stories whereby which she learns about—and frequently misunderstands—everyday things.<ref name="Spurgeon1">{{cite web | title=Yotsuba&! Vol. 1 | url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/cr_reviews/2598/ | author=Tom Spurgeon | publisher=[[The Comics Reporter]] | date=15 August 2005 | access-date=22 September 2007}}</ref>

At the start of the series, Yotsuba and her adoptive father, Yousuke Koiwai, relocate to a new city with the help of Koiwai's best friend, an impressively tall man named Takashi Takeda, known as Jumbo. Yotsuba makes a strong impression on the three daughters of the neighboring [[List of Yotsuba&! characters#Ayase household|Ayase family]], Asagi, Fuuka, and Ena, after Ena meets Yotsuba trying to find out how a swing works. Most of her daily activities and misadventures often originate from interactions with these characters and more, such as Asagi's friend Torako, known as [[Tiger]] (from Yotsuba, the kanji for ''Tora'' is the same kanji in ''tiger'').

The series has no consistent plot continuity—the focus of the stories is Yotsuba's daily voyage of discovery. Many chapters take place on successive days (for details, see ''[[List of Yotsuba&! chapters]]''), so that the series follows, almost literally, the characters' [[Slice of life|daily lives]].<ref name="Mania-v4-timeframe">{{cite web | url=http://www.mania.com/yotsuba-vol-04_article_83459.html | title=Yotsuba&! Vol. No. 04 | first=Patricia | last=Beard | publisher=Mania.com | date=22 June 2007 | access-date=1 July 2009 }}</ref> The tone can be summarized by the motto, used on chapter title pages and advertising: {{nihongo|"Today is always the most enjoyable day"|いつでも今日が、いちばん楽しい日|Itsudemo kyō ga, ichiban tanoshii hi}}, or in the original translation, "Enjoy Everything".