Eiko KadonoHans Christian Andersen Author Award Winner

Born in Tokyo, Japan, on January 1, 1935, Eiko Kadono is one of the most respected and well-known authors of children's literature in Japan. Her books have been deeply influential for several generations of Japanese children. She has won numerous national and international awards—including the 1985 Noma Prize for Children's Literature, the 1985 Shogakukan Children's Publication Culture Award, the 1986 IBBY Honor List, the 2016 Sankei Children's Publishing Culture Award, and finally the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Majo no Takkyuubin (Kiki's Delivery Service, 1985) is perhaps her most famous book, having been adapted into an internationally acclaimed animated film by Studio Ghibli. Her work includes over two hundred picturebooks, novels, and translations. Many of her stories are contemporary and modern fantasy books. Her books tend to feature characters as witches, spirits, and shadow creatures, as well as socially neglected groups such as the elderly, children, and, women.

Many of the unique aspects of Kadono's work are drawn from her ordinary daily life, but they tell of a wide range of life experiences. In her autobiography, Kadono Eiko no Mainichi Iroiro (Eiko Kadono's Everyday Life), we learn most of her days are not that different from readers' own. She spends her time cooking, gardening, traveling, reading, and writing. Her experiences as a traveler have also nurtured her stories. She has traveled widely, from local regions throughout Japan to global locations in Europe, Brazil, Australia, and the Middle East. The resulting cultural knowledge goes far beyond her native Japanese culture and is richly reflected through characters and various story settings in hybrid genres, like realism-based modern fantasy. In addition, Kadono's childhood memories have become material for many of her books. Born in 1935, Kadono lived through many hardships and privations during her childhood in wartime Japan. Other autobiographical elements in her books include the loss of her mother, her father's bedtime stories, her migration to Brazil, and finally, her becoming a children's author. In this essay, we trace Kadono's footsteps in both her real and literary worlds. We first discuss her contributions to children's literature that are not known to many of readers outside of Japan. Then we explore her life on a more personal level, examining major themes in her life and how they influenced her work. Finally, we discuss her special efforts to tell stories from marginalized voices that are often misunderstood, distorted, and even ignored in the real world.

Kadono's Contribution to Children's Literature Kadono's Fantasy Series

Perhaps the Harry Potter books are the most internationally known and popularized fantasy series starting from the late 1990s. Prior to Harry Potter though, there was Kadono's fantasy series in the early 1980s. Kadono's fantasy series, which she began writing in the early 1980s, is not widely known outside of Japan but has long been popular with children in her home country. The Little Ghost story series has been a best-seller, re-released frequently, and even adapted into an anime television show. Kadono's monster-like and roundish white-colored little ghosts are friendly and domesticated, living with humans and helping them. Sometimes they do tricks, such as vanishing and changing their appearance. In Hamburgu Tsukurouyo (Let's Make a Hamburg Steak, 1979), a ghost and a cat cook a burger for a girl's birthday. In Pizza Pie kun Tasuketeyo (Pizza Pie, Help Me, 1981), a ghost creates new pizza recipes for a pizza restaurant and improves business. Across the series, the ghosts' cooking activities inspire young children with a sense of joy as a maker in Japan. Young children also enjoy the series because of the high degree of inter-textual connections among its books.

Kadono as a Translator and Her Translated Books

Kadono's books are widely read internationally, and translations of many of her works are available in many languages; she has personally translated several of her books into English. Odango Soup and Akachan ga Yattekita are available in English...