Eiko Kadono

Template:Nihongo, real name Template:Nihongo, born January 1, 1935, is a Japanese author of children's literature, picture books, non-fiction, and essays. Her most famous work Kiki's Delivery Service, released in 1985, was made into an anime film by Hayao Miyazaki, and spawned a series of sequel novels. In 2018, she won the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Currently, she serves as a guest professor at the Nihon Fukushi University in Aichi Prefecture.

Biography

Early life and education

Kadono was born in Tokyo, Japan. As a child during the World War II, she was evacuated to North Japan.<ref name="bbc_11_April_2018" /> She attended and graduated with a degree in English literature from Waseda University. After graduation in 1960 at the age of 25, she emigrated to Brazil where she spent two years.

Career

She wrote a non-fiction story called Brazil and My Friend Luizinho (Ruijinnyo shōnen, Burajiru o tazunete), based on her experience at that time, about a Brazilian boy who loves dancing samba. Brazil was released in 1970.<ref name="books from japan">Template:Cite web</ref> Kadono stated that living through World War II sparked her rebellious nature and had a profound impact on the way she viewed the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She has published almost two hundred works, mainly books for children, including picture books and prose works for older children, as well as essay collections.<ref name=bbc_11_April_2018 /> Her first successful children's book, published Ôdorabô Bula Bula shi (The Robber Bla-Bla), was published in 1981.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Children'slit">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> In 1985, she published the children's novel Majo no Takkyūbin (魔女の宅急便, Kiki's Delivery Service), about a young witch-in-training who starts a delivery service in a seaside town of Koriko. The book received several awards, including the Noma Prize for Children's Literature, the Shogakukan Children's Publication Culture Award, and the IBBY Honor List.<ref name="books from japan"/> It was adapted into a film by Hayao Miyazaki in 1989 and became one of his most popular films.<ref name=bbc_11_April_2018 /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The book was also adapted into a live-action film in 2014, directed by Takashi Shimizu.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has written eight sequels and prequels to KikiTemplate:'s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Selected bibliography

Kiki's Delivery Service

• Template:Nihongo (1985)
• Template:Nihongo (1993)
• Template:Nihongo (2000)
• Template:Nihongo (2004)
• Template:Nihongo (2007)
• Template:Nihongo (2009)
• Template:Nihongo (2016)
• Template:Nihongo (2017)
• Template:Nihongo (2022)

Stand-alone

• Spagetti ga Tabete Iyo (1979)
• Grandpa's Soup (1989), with illustrator Satomi Ichikawa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Sarada De Genki (2005)

Awards

Kadono won the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing.<ref name=HCAA>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=bbc_11_April_2018>Template:Cite news</ref> The judges described her work as having "an ineffable charm, compassion, and élan" and praised her inspirational female characters as "singularly self-determining and enterprising."<ref name=HCAA /><ref name=asahi2018>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website Template:In lang
• J'Lit | Authors : Eiko Kadono | Books from Japan Template:Webarchive