Picture Books

Forest Home Advice
Rabbit lives in a tree in the mountains
and loves to help his fellow creatures findplaces to stay. He knows just the roomfor each woodland animal. When a pairof Sunda scops owls is looking for a place
to raise their chicks, he shows them to ahole in an apple tree. When a dormouse islooking for a place to fatten up and spend
the winter, the rabbit has him covered.
The rabbit is almost like a real estateagent as he responds to the other animals’requests in this heartwarming story.
Age 3+

32 pages / March 2023

Thank You, Buddy

Hey, So...

Age 2+

24 pages
Sold: Korea, Thailand,
Vietnam, Germany

Age 2+

24 pages
May 2022

Have a Seat

Plip-Plop, Plip-Plop,Are You All Right?

Age 2+

24 pages
Sold: China, Korea,
Thailand, Vietnam

Come fora Meal—It’s My TreatStar Hunting

Age 2+

24 pages
Sold: China, Korea,
Taiwan, Thailand

Age 3+

32 pages2017
Sold: China, Germany,
Korea, Thailand

Age 3+

32 pages / 2021

WriterIllistrator

Born in Iwate Prefecture. Won the Hirosuke Fairy
Tale Award for Ochiba ochiba tonde ike (Autumn
leaf, autumn leaf, fly away).

Picturbook author and Illustrator, See profile
next page for details.

Kumiko Moichi

Yumi Shimokawara

Author & Illustrator

Yumi Shimokawara
Born in Tokyo Prefecture. Started taking an illustration correspondence course with
Kodansha Famous Schools in 2001 and then learned wildlife drawing at a school
managed by KFS In 2013, the school won the 7th KFS Picture Book Grand Prix. Thisaward-winning work became her debut title, Hoshi wo Sagashite ni (Star Hunting).

Picture Books

Panda Exercise Series

Age 2+A tulip, a banana, a rice ball, an airplane… Have fun pretending to
be all sorts of familiar things with panda friends. You won't be able
to help but move your body as you turn each page. This series will
enrich both your heart and your body.

300,000
copiessold

We Are Penguin Explorers:
The Southern Island

Heave and-a ho ho, heave and-a ho
ho! The penguin explorers land on
the southern isle and begin their
expedition. They are unfazed by their“dangerous” encounters with a lion, apython, and a crocodile, and equally
unfazed when a dinosaur shows up.

Panda Buddy
Exercises
Grab a buddy and follow the
pandas. Become a see-saw, arailroad crossing, hula-dancers
and more as you exercise yourimagination along with yourbody. This book is perfectfor siblings or parent-childplaytime.

Age 3+

32 pages / 2022 / Sold: Korea

We Are Penguin Explorers(Early readers)

The Penguin series, which is loved by children who have outgrownpicture books as books they can read on their own, was launched in1991. Penguin Explorers" has been a big seller in Japan and China,
selling over 500,000 copies. The secret behind the popularity of theseries is the penguins' own pace and their humorous calls to each other.
Age 3+

32 pages / 2023

78 pages / 1991 / Sold: China, Taiwan

We Are Penguin Firefighters(Early readers)

Sold: China, Korea,
Taiwan,Thailand

Sold: China, France,
Italy, Korea, Spain,
Taiwan, Thailand,
Vietnam

Sold: China, France,
Italy, Korea, Spain,
Taiwan, Thailand

Sold: China,
Vietnam

Sold: China

A funny bunch of penguins comes to a southern isle with a heave and-aho ho. Where there's no smoke, there's no fire, but these penguin
firefighters are here to put it out anyway—even if their activities only
annoy the animal inhabitants.
Age 3+

78 pages / 1993 / Sold: China, Taiwan

WriterAuthor & Illustrator

Hiroshi Saito

Illistrator

Born in Tokyo. His picture books include the Piyo-chan series, Oyasumi nasai no oto (Good night
sounds), Koro koro panda (Roly poly panda), Yuru yuru panda (Rock and sway panda), Poketto neko
(Pocket kitty), Masuku o tottara (When you take your mask off), and more.

Born in Tokyo. German literaturescholar and author of children's
literature. Professor at Asia
University. See profile on 16p for
details.

Born in Aichi Prefecture. He received the Bologna InternationalAward for Illustration for Dare no jitensha (Whose bicycle?;
Froebel-Kan) .He won the German Children's Literature Prize 2018
for his book Boku wa Afrika ni Sumu Kirin to iimasu (I am a giraffeliving in Africa; written by Megumi Iwasa; from Kaiseisha).

Satoshi Iriyama

Jun Takabatake

Picture Books

Can You Tidy Up?
Tidying up is something every childneeds to learn to do. Cut-out spaces
highlight an airplane, a bear, and so on,so every page turn emphasizes the feelingof achievement kids get from putting an
object back where it goes. Teach yourchild where their things belong andwatch their abilities blossom day by day.

We're Gettinga Cat Tomorrow
A little girl learns her family is getting a
cat tomorrow, but what kind of cat will
it be? She hopes it will be cute like a doll,
but her mom teases her, saying, “What
if it’s as big as a lion?” That gets the girl’s
imagination working: What if it’s always
stealing my snacks? What if it’s better at
piano than me? The scenarios get more
and more fanciful until finally, the nextday, the adorable cat shows up.

Age 3+

Age 3+

24 pages / 2021

24 pages
2000
Sold: China, Korea

Can You Get Dressed?
Jumble, Jumble, Perfect!

Age 3+

24 pages / 2021

Author & Illustrator

Age 3+

24 pages / 2021

Yukimi Konno
Born in 1978. Her other books include Mite sawatte oboeru a i u e o no ehon (See, touch, andremember a i u e o), Mite sawatte oboeru kazu no ehon (See, touch, and remember numbers; both from
Shufunotomosha), the Ohime-sama shiiru ehon series (Princess sticker picture books; Kodansha).

AuthorIllustrator

Born in Aichi Prefecture. She received a
Bologna Ragazzi Special Award in 1999 with
Nazonazo no tabi (The riddle journey; illustrated
by Ryoji Arai; from Froebel-Kan) and won the2001 Japan Picture Book Award for this book.

Born in Tokyo. He has won numerous awards
including a silver medal at the Dommelhof
International Print Biennale, the Shogakukan Award
for Painting, the Kodansha Publication Culture Award
for Illustrations, and the Japan Picture Book Award.

Chihiro Ishizu

Yuki Sasameya

Picture Books

The Hat

Waiting
A bunch of animals find alovely blue hat lying in themeadow. Whose could it be?
It’s too small for Elephantand Donkey. It doesn’t fit
the Goat, Rabbit, or Mouse
either. Then a human boy
comes along—”Oh, that’s
where it was!”—and the hatfits him perfectly.

Waiting is natural. A child waits for afish to bite. A spider waits for bugs to gettrapped in its web. Sea birds wait for thetide to shift. Everyone has to be patient
for something, but what do your senses
pick up while you’re waiting quietly?
You might be surprised how much ishappening around you if you open yourawareness to the world.

Age 3+

32 pages2020

Age 3+

20 pages2022

Author & Illustrator

Yura Komine
Born in Kumamoto Prefecture. Studied painting at Tokyo University of the Arts and 1985 she went
to France to study at École des Beaux-Arts. After returning to Japan in 1994, she became known asa picture book author, illustrator, and doll maker. She won the 10th Japan Picture Book Award with
Sakurako no tanjōbi (Sakurako’s birthday; Doshinsha) and the 18th with Tomodachi dekita yo (I madea friend!; Bunken). She received the 47th Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for picture books with
Orugōru no Kurukuru-chan (Twirly from the Music Box; Kodansha).

Author & Illustrator

Yasunari Murakami

Born in Gifu Prefecture. He has received special mentions in the Bologna International Awards for
Illustration, a golden plaque in the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava, and the Japan Picture Book
Awards Grand Prize.

Picture BooksBlack

The Book of Water
A dog named Kuro (black)restlessly paces around his
doghouse missing his friend.
Will I be able to see you? Aftera lonely night, morning finallycomes and they can play
together again.

USBBY 2022 Outstanding
International Book List

“Earth is a planet of water. Humans are all
children of this water planet. Water is theorigin of humans. This poem is an ode towater,” said Hiroshi Osada of this work.
Now set to vibrant illustrations by Ryoji
Arai, it makes a beautiful picture book andgreat follow up to the pair’s books about
the forest and the sky.

Age 5+

Age 5+

35 pages / 2022

32 pages / 2019
Sold: China, USA, Sweden

White and BlackAge 5+

36 pages / 2019
Sold: Korea

Author & Illustrator

Chiki Kikuchi

A curious white cat makes
friends with a black dog. They
couldn’t be more different, yetthey have plenty in common
as they play in the naturethat surrounds them. The
cat wonders, Why, why do I
miss you? but to the reader,
it’s obvious. Ever y childunderstands the melancholyof their friend going home forthe day and the joy of seeing
them again soon.
BIB Golden Apple2013

BIB Plaque2019

Born 1975 in Hokkaido Prefecture. Debuted in 2012 with Shiro neko kuro neko (White cat black cat;from Gakken Plus) and won a Golden Apple at the 2013 Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) for it.

A Forest
Picture Book

The Sky
Picture Book

Best Illustrator,
2021 Northern Lights
Book Awards

Age 5+

Age 5+

36 pages2011
Sold: China, USA,
Vietnam

32 pages
1999
Sold: China

Writer

The White Ravens
2012

Illustrator

Astrid Lindgren
Memorial Award
2005 Winner

Hiroshi Osada

Ryoji Arai

Born 1939 in Fukushima prefecture. Debutedwith the poetry collection Warera shinsen na
tabibito (We novel travelers) in 1965. After that he
was active as a poet and received the Mainichi
Publishing Culture Award 1982, and the Robo no
Ishi Literary Award in 1991. He continued writing
award winning poetry until his death in 2015.

Born 1956 in Yamagata Prefecture. Released
MELODY in 1990 and began creating picture
books. In 1991 his work Yukkuri to Jojoni (TakeIt-Easy and Little-by-Little) was exhibited as aJapanese representative for the Ezra Jack KeatsAwards. He won a special award at the Bologna
Children’s Book Fair in 1999.

Picture Books

Doctor Anton Series

Age 3+

680,000
copiessold

Doctor Anton is a kind veterinarian who always
wears a smile. All sorts of animals come to his
clinic each day. A chicken rooster who lost his
voice, a tiger with a tummy ache, an alligator
whose jaw came unhinged... No matter how
scary the patient may seem, Doctor Anton
listens closely and cures what ails them. Even
kids who hate going to do the doctor can enjoy
reading about familiar animals.

Mottainai Grandma Series
The Mottainai Grandma series helps kids understand how precious things are andencourages an attitude of consideration and respect for others. People around theworld are realizing that the concept of "mottainai" is useful in food education andfor thinking about climate change. The new book depicts the water cycle in a waythat is easy for children to grasp. Follow a single drop of water down a river to see
how it is connected to animals, plants, and every sort of life form.

millioncopies!

Mottainai Grandma

Goes to the River

Mottainai Grandma takes a boy upstream to learn why
throwing trash in water is harmful. There they meet ababy river, and when they journey downstream together,
they find...?
The next lesson from this hugely popular character isa reverence for nature, and it takes place somewherefamiliar—a riverside. All living things need water; it's
unfair for humans to pollute it. This book encourages
kids to keep our precious water clean.

32 pages / 2013
Sold: China, Taiwan, Vietnam

Doctor Anton,
Helping Each Other

1

Over
Over

NEW!

One night, a big storm hits. "I wonder if everyone is okay..."Doctor Anton the veterinarian is worried. The next morning,
sure enough, there's a lot of trouble in the animal village. It's toomuch for Doctor Anton to handle on his own. When things get
tough, it's important for everyone to help each other.
Age 4+

36 page / 2019
Sold: China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam

Age 3+

32 pages / 2022
Sold: China

Doctor Anton
Makes aHouse Call
Age 3+

32 pages / 2015
Sold: China,
Taiwan, Vietnam

Mottainai
Grandma

Doctor Anton,
It's a Piglet!

Author & Illustrator

Toshio Nishimura
Born in Aichi prefecture. Graduated from Tokyo Zokei University's design department. After working
as an interior/textile designer, Nishimura entered the picture book field. He is able to capture children’s
hearts immediately with his humorous stories and painting style. His picture books include Barubarusan (Mr. Barbar the barber; text by Eriko Inui), Unko! (Poop!; text by Satoshin), and Imo imo hori hori
(Digging for potatoes) among many others.

Let’s Eat
With Gratitude

Mottainai Grandma

Goes tothe Magic Land

Age 3+

34 pages
2004
Sold: China, India,
Taiwan, Vietnam

Age 3+

32 pages / 2017
Sold: China,
Taiwan, Vietnam

Mottainai Grandma

Author & Illustrator

Mariko Sinju

Age 3+

36 pages / 2009
Sold: India, Taiwan, Vietnam

Age 5+

34 pages / 2009
Sold: India

Studied picture book design in Osaka and New York. Her first book, A Pumpkin Story,
was released in the United States in 1998. In 2004, she released Mottainai Bāsan(Mottainai Grandma), which won the Kenbuchi City Picture Book Village Award.

Picture Books

Early Readers

Night on the
Galactic Railroad

BIB Golden Apple1983

You'll Be Fine,
You'll Be Fine

Age 8+

Age 5+

52 pages / 2022 / Sold: China, Korea

Follow best friends Giovanni and Campanella on a mysterious train thatflies across the Milky Way. They vow to go together to forever in searchof true happiness, but only one of them returns… This new edition
includes an afterword from 98-year-old Fujishiro on the occasion of this
BIB Golden Apple Award-winning book’s 40th anniversary.

Text & Shadow picture

Orignal Author

Seiji Fujishiro

Kenji Miyazawa

Born in 1924 in Tokyo. He began oil painting at the age of
12 and was selected for the Dokuritsu and Shinseisaku
exhibitions. After World War II, amidst a shortage of supplies,
he began creating shadow puppets and developed them into a
unique form of artistic expression. In addition to a BIB GoldenApple in 1983 for the original edition of this book, he has also
been awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon, a Fourth Class
Order of the Rising Sun decoration, and many other honors.

1896-1933. Poet and fairy tale author.
Though unrecognized during his
lifetime, his unqiue worldview became
known after his death, and he is now
a nationally symbolic creator. Nighton the Galactic Railroad has inspired
many anime and novels including
Galaxy Express 999.

31 pages
1995
Sold: China, Taiwan

A little boy goes on world-expanding walks with his grandpa, but themore experiences he has, the more his anxieties grow. Not everyone isnice to him, and sometimes sad things happen. But his grandpa always
tells him he’ll be fine. Later, the boy returns the consideration. This book
is a gentle reminder not to catastrophize because the word isn’t all bad.
Winner of the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award.

Author & Illustrator

Hiroshi Ito
Born in 1957 in Tokyo. Graduated from Waseda University with a major in education. He is best known
for his Osaru no mainichi series (Monkey life) and has won the Robo no Ishi Award for Children’s
Literature, the Noma Prize for Juvenile Literature, and the Ehon Nippon Prize Readers Award.

Early Readers

Monster Encyclopedia Series
Monster Encyclopedia:
At School

From Monster Encyclopedia: At School

1.

2.

If you forget something at school, you mustn’t
go back at night to get it—especially not tothe science room.

Because the science room at night…
...is a monster paradise! And the scariest of
all is…..the skeleton model!

3.

4.

Once he grabs you, he won’t let go tillmorning. He’ll make you dance for hours andhours.

To avoid all of that, you need to not go to
the science room at night. But if the skeleton
model grabs you, pretend to be a dog bybarking, “Woof! Woof-woof-woof!”

A New TV
animation
series has
begun!

Over 1.6 million copies sold inJapan! Adapated as both anime
and a live-action move. The
secret to this series's popularity isfinding humor in the spookinessand always offering a solution to
give readers peace of mind. Thesebooks come with the message thatno matter what life throws at you,"you'll be fine!"
34 volumes and counting!

Age 9+

80 pages2014
Sold: Taiwan

Goofy Monsters
WriterIllustrator

Born 1952 in Tokyo Prefecture. Won the Kodansha Award
for New Writers of Children’s Literature for Rudorufu to
Ippaiattena (Rudolf and Gotta Bunch), the Noma Prize
for New Writers of Children's Literature and the Robono-Ishi Young Readers Award for Rudorofu tomodachi
hitoridachi (Rudolf with friends and on his own), as
well as the the Noma Prize for Children's Literature for
Rudorufu to Sunō Howaito (Rudolf and Snow White).

Born 1954 in Osaka Prefecture. After
working in graphic design, he switched toillustrating and authoring picture books.
Winner of the Kodansha Character
Creation Award, the Sankei Shimbun
Advertising Award, and the Parco Parody
Prize.

Hiroshi Saito

ModeleletonThe SkBeethoven on the poster

Hanakoin the T -sanoilet

Etsuyoshi Miyamoto

Early Readers

The Letz Series

1.

2.

"This reminds me of when Letz was in mytummy.""You're a blessing from the heavens, Letz."

3.

4.

"But inside a tummy, all kinds of stuff comes
falling down on you. There's nothing much tobe happy about.""Next time I'm born, I'll fall down from theheavens."

Stories written purely from a child’s point of view by Hico
Tanaka are paired with the mega-popular Shinsuke Yoshitake’s
illustrations in the Letz series. These were Yoshitake’s firstchildren’s books and now they are available in a new edition.

Letz inMom's Tummy

Five-year-old Letz ponders the mysteriesof the womb. "When you were in mytummy, you were connected to me byyour belly button." But wouldn't thathave to be outside her tummy? Does
Mom have a belly button inside, too?
This is the story of how a little kid
imagines the story of their birth.

Age 6+

64 pages
Sold: China

WriterHico Tanaka
Born in 1953 in Osaka Prefecture. Majored in literature at Doshisha University. In
1990, he won the first Muku Hatoju Children's Literature Prize for Ohikkoshi (Dadmoves out). In 1997, he won the 44th Sankei Children's Book JR Award for Gomen(Sorry). In 2017, he won the Japan Association of Children's Book Writers Award forhis series Naritate Chūgakusei (Freshly minted middle-schooler). Chairman of The
Children's Literature Review.

Letz and A Cat

Letz’s Stool

Letz Runs an Errand

Illustrator

Shinsuke Yoshitake
Born 1973 in Kanagawa Prefecture. Completed a Master's in Plastic Art and Mixed
Media at Tsukuba University. Ringo kamo shirenai (It Might Be an Apple) won firstplace in the 6th moe Picture Book Store Prize and the 61st Sankei Children's
Literature Publishing Culture Award for Art. His books are popular around the world.

Age 6+

64 pages2018 / Sold: China

Age 6+

64 pages
Sold: China

Age 6+

64 pages
Sold: China

Middle Grade & YA

Temple Alley Summer
In the middle of the night, Kazu wakes
up with a need to go to the bathroom
and sees a strange girl leaving his house.
A ghost? The next day, Kazu goes toschool and is surprised to find the girl in
his class. Strangely enough, his classmates
say that she has been in their class for along time! As Kazu pursues the mystery,he learns that the legend of resurrection
was passed down in a temple in his town.
There are ghosts who resurrect unnoticed
and live among humans. A multilayered
fantasy work that incorporates a medieval
European tale within a Japanese-stylenarrative.

The Marvelous Village
Veiled in Mist
During the summer vacation, Lina went ona trip alone to a town where her father had
once traveled. Passing through a misty forest,
she finds a beautiful and somewhat eccentric
town. This is a Japanese fantasy masterpiecethat inspired Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away.
Age 10+216 pages
Sold: China, France, Italy, Taiwan

A Strange Journeyfrom the basement

Age 10+338 pages
2011
Sold: Germany, USA

Age 10+Winner of the 2022
Mildred L. Batchelder Award

256 pages
Sold: China,
Taiwan, France

Akane was visiting Aunt Chi's pharmacy whensuddenly a strange gentleman and a dwarf
appeared from the basement. Accompanied
by Hippocrates, an alchemist from the "Landof Time Tree Buds," and his apprentice Pipo,
Aunt Chi and Akane set off for "the world
next door. This work was made into an
animated film as "Birthday Wonderland".

Winner of the 2022
SCBW Crystal Kite Award
Author

Sachiko Kashiwaba
Born in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture in 1953. Graduated from Tohoku Pharmaceutical
University. In 1974, while still a student, she won the Kodansha Award for New
Writers for Children's Literature for a work that Kodansha published as Kiri no mukōno fushigi na machi (The Marvelous Village Veiled in Mist; tr. Christopher Holmes).
It won the 9th Japan Children's Literature Association Newcomer Award in 1976 andwent on to become a steady seller known as the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki's
Spirited Away. As one of Japan's best fantasy writers, Kashiwaba’s works have won
numerous awards and been adapted into animations.

The House of
the Lost on the Cape

Moeka is supposed to be taken in by relatives
after losing her parent.Yurie is running awayfrom his abusive husband. A mysterious oldlady gives them a hand. This book is a fantasy
themed around the 2011 Tohoku earthquake
and Tsunami featuring three women who end
up living together as a kind of family.

Age 10+270 pages
Sold: China, USA

Middle Grade & YA

The Beast Player

3.1

millioncopies soldSoul Lanterns
The White Ravens
2014
The Shogakukan
Publication Culture Award

Banished from her homeland
where the Toda are the army’s
deadliest weapon, raised in
the lonely mountains where
the beautiful but savage
Royal Beasts soar wild, Elinis fated to discover the lost
secret of the beasts, thosethat must not be tamed, andunlock the political taboo
that has maintained thebalance of power between theforces of nature, gods, andhuman tribes.

AuthorNahoko Uehashi

Age 13+

189 pages
Sold: USA12-year-old Nozomi was born and raised in Hiroshima, where the atomic bomb was
dropped, but she had never thought too much about it. Then the art club she belongs to
at school decides to do a Culture Festival project on the theme of asking adults close tothem about the day they were bombed. One man’s girlfriend died… One woman’s son
died… Nozomi listens to the brutal stories of each person who lost someone precious
to them. These stories are not portrayed in a horrifying way, but conveyed with a quiet
prayer for peace. The final lantern floating ceremony scene, colorful and beautiful,resonates in the hearts of readers.

Age 11+319 ~ 486 pages
2006 ~ 2010
Sold: UK,China,South Korea
Taiwan,Sweden

The Fukuda Kiyoto
Literary Award.

Winner of the 2020
Michael L.Prinz Award

2014 Han ChristianAndersen Award

Nahoko Uehashi is the winner of the Jury of the International Board on Books for
Young People’s 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing. The Beast Player isan epic fantasy series admired for its “tenderness and a great respect for nature andall sapient creatures.”(JBBY) The Moribito and The Beast Player series were animatedand broadcast on NHK. Uehashi’s works are read all over the world. The Moribito
series has been translated into: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, andtraditional and simplified Mandarin; The Beast Player series has been translated into
French, German, Swedish, Korean, and traditional and simplified Mandarin.

This book was translated into English and published by Delacorte Books for Young
Readers in March 2021 under the title Soul Lanterns (tr. Emily Balistrieri) and wasselected as one of the Best Books 2021 by School Library Journal in the United States.
AuthorShaw Kuzki
Born in Hiroshima. Second generation A-bomb survivor. Received her MA from Sophia University. She
has won numerous awards, including the Japan Juvenile Writers Association Prize and the Sankei
Children's Book Award.

Middle Grade & YA

The Mirage Queen Series
1.3

Over

millioncopies!

The great thief Queen has
a whimsical personality,
but Queen knows what
they like when it comesto a heist. When Queen
finds something that fits
their sense of aesthetics,
they steal it in the mostelegant and ambitious way
possible.

The Mysterious Libraryand the Difficult Partner

Age 10+

Series: 2002~ 15 volumes

257・320 pages

A Warning from the Queen:
Mirage Queen, Episode 0This is the first story the Thieving Queen
appears in. A strange note arrives: "Prof. Kuraki's
new artificial intelligence will be stolen when
it is completed in three years." When Queen
sends a follow-up note three years later, Great
Detective Kiyoshiro Yumemizu is on the case!

Age 10+160 pages2022
Sold: Korea

Demon Lord Grymon keeps ruining the world's stories by stealing important parts!
Guarding the world's stories are the mystery library librarians—the Story Masters.

Age 9+

384 pages

Hinata is tasked with rescuing the world of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales bysearching for the stolen Key Parts. And her Story Master partner is none other thanAndersen himself! She's excited to immerse herself in Andersen's stories, but it turns out
he's pretty hard to work with.

AuthorKaoru Hayamine
Author of the Kiyoshiro Yumemizu series, which has sold over 3.6 million copies,
former elementary school teacher Kaoru Hayamine is the master of mysteries forkids where no one gets killed. His series Tom & Soya in the City has also sold over
1.8 million. He has received the Utsunomiya Childrens' Award a record-setting threetimes and is celebrating 30 years as an author.

WriterIllustrator

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture. Won the Junior Adventure Novel
Prize for Suiyō no mori (Forest of the water sprite) and the
Utsunomiya Children's Prize for Korei no ori (Cage of the fox
spirit). She is best known for her Zenitendo series (Kaiseisha).

Born in Tokyo. Mangaka. Winner of
the the Seiun Award for Best Comicfor Hozuki no reitetsu (Hozuki's
Coolheadedness).

Reiko Hiroshima

Natsumi EguchiNon-Fiction & Education

The Evolution of Whales

The Long, Long Journeyof Our Bones
Winner of a JASCL Honken
Best Book Prize in 2018
The next generationin the Association of Studiesfor
Picture Books's BOOKEND 2018
Winner of a Children's Welfare
Culture Award in 2019

Age 10+40 pages
September 2022

Whales are mammals, but did you know that they evolved from animals who used tolive on land? From the four-legged Pakicetus to the massive blue whale with its efficientsystem of baleen plates for feeding, Hiroya Minakuchi charts the emergence of different
types of cetaceans over the course of millions of years of evolution in this nonfiction
picture book with stunning illustrations by Takashi Oda.

Age 7+

36 pages2017
Sold: China, Taiwan

4.6 billion years ago, Earth wasformed, and many lifeforms cameinto being as the lands and seasstabilized: unicellular organisms,
multicellular organisms, relatives offish who lived in the sea, animals
who climbed up onto land…
Explore the fascinating evolution ofbones, as well as how humans areconnected to our ancestors fromthe primordial sea via the ocean wealways carry inside us.

WriterWriterPhotographer, journalist. Born in Osaka Prefecture and graduated from Kyoto University with a degree
in zoology. His photography collections, picture books, and other non-fiction works primarily focus on
marine mammals. He won the 22nd Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for Photography with Orca
Again and the 5th Japan Picture Book Prize with Makkō no uta shiroi ōki na tomodachi (Song of the
sperm whale: our big white friend).

Born 1955 in Yamaguchi Prefecture. In 1989 she went freelance after working for a publishingcompany. Her own works include Honehone tankentai (Bone explorers) and Yamori no yubi kara fushigi
na tēpu (The mysterious tape from the gecko’s fingers) among others.

Hiroya Minakuchi

Illustrator

Takashi Oda
Painter, illustrator. Born in Mie Prefecture, andreceived an MA in Fine Art from Tokyo Universityof the Arts. Specializes in oil painting and murals.
Does work for museum exhibitions, renderings forencyclopedias, picture books, and more. Teaches in
the faculty of manga at Kyoto Seika University.

Motoko Matsuda

Illustrator

Supervision

Supervision

Kazuo Kawakami

Akihiko Sakuragi

Chief of the biology section at the Gunma
Museum of Natural History. Bor n in
Aichi Prefecture. Did a Master’s at the
Nagoya Graduate School of Science andcompleted a PhD. Specializes in vertebrate
paleontology and cetology.

Born 1959 in Hokkaido Prefecture. Graduateof Hokkaido Designer Gakuin. Went freelancein 1986 after working at a design firm. In
addition to doing illustrations for textbooks
and magazines, he also has illustrated picture
books such as Yama no gochisō donguri
no ki (Feast of the land: the acorn tree) andYamanashi (Yamanashi).

Professor at Takarazuka University. Born 1954
inTokyo. Graduated from Tokyo University’s Facultyof Science, became a Doctor of Medicine. His
specialization is in 3-D shape analysis of bones.

Toshiyuki Kimura

Supervision

GUNMA MUSEUM OF
NATURAL HISTORYNon-Fiction & Education

Scenic Secrets:
How’d It Get Like That?

Storybook Science Series
Genetic Engineering /How a Glowing Mouse
Will Change the Future
The Storybook Science series
fosters a science-doing mindset
by introducing the surprises andemotional impact of sciencethrough stories.
When Tanto's grandmother isdiagnosed with cancer, she isoffered gene therapy to lessen thestrain on her body, but when Tanto
hears the word "gene," he wonders
if his grandma will be turned into
a mutant. That's how he starts
researching to learn what genes
actually are.

Age 8+

36 pages / 2018

Scenery isn’t just pretty—it’s full of discoveries and surprises. Akiyo Masuda takes us on abackstage tour of some amazing sights to learn the natural processes behind the view.
Why does the Grand Canyon have stripes? How are fjords formed? How come Lake
Natron is bright red? These and other puzzles are answered with kid-friendly science!
Explore 15 scenes from 13 different countries.

Age 11+80 pages
2022

WriterSupervision

AuthorIllustrator

Bor n in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Graduated from Nihon University.
Writes articles in a wide variety offields including travel, culture, food,and scenery. Books include Marugoto
Nihon no sekai isan (All of Japan’s
world heritage sites; Kodansha).

Associate professor in Toho University’s Faculty of Science.
After graduating from Tokyo University, he got his Ph.D. at
Penn State. He took his current position after being an adjunctat the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a researcher at theJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. He
has also taught in Waseda University’s School of International
Liberal Studies. His specialties include geochemistry, geology,
and astrobiology.

Born in 1957 in Tokyo, raised in Oita Prefecture.
Mother of a boy and two girls. Graduate ofTokyo University's law department. Kisetsufu
member. Won the Ogawa Mimei LiteraryAward's grand prize with Aodaishō no hibi
(Rat snake days) and the Japan Association ofWriters for Children Prize with Maresuke no niji
(Maresuke's rainbow; Komine Shoten).

Born in 1976 in Shizuoka Prefecture. Won the Japan
Picture Book Award and the Kodansha Publiching
Culture Award for Picture Books with Futte kimashita(It started to rain; by Izumi Motoshita; Kodansha).
Okodademasen you ni (I wish they wouldn't get madat me; by Shigenori Kusunoki; Shogakukan) was
selected as the assignment for the 55th All-Japan
Youth Book Report Contest.

Akiyo Masuda

Kosei Yamaguchi

Shigemi Morikawa

Kiyotaka Ishii

Ar t

Chalacters

The Giant Encyclopediaof World Yokai

STAR WARS × MANGA ARTISTS ARTBOOKYour favorite scenes and characters from the Star
Wars universe appear as you’ve never seen them
before in this art book featuring a total of 45
Japanese manga artists, including Mobile Suit
Gundam THE ORIGIN ’s Yoshikazu Yasuhiko,
Noragami: Stray God 's Toka Adachi and ACCA
13-Territory Inspection Department's Natume Ono.
Well-known, popular artists have been selected toexpress their own interpretation about Star Wars.
This Volume is must-have for both Star Wars andmanga/comics lovers.
Age 6+

96 pages2019

All Ages

24 pages
2022

Disney Yummy Yummy!!
Look and Find
This is a Look and Find book of handmade
Disney sweets. Lots of Disney characters aretransformed into delicious handmade sweets suchas chocolates, cookies, and rice dumplings. And
they are hidden in many places in this book. Thiscute book will melt your heart!

All Ages

368 pages2022
Sold: France

A carefully selected collection of Shigeru Mizuki illustrations depicting yokai fromaround the globe.
This book introduces yokai inhabiting Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania
and also features sections on evil creatures from Greek mythology and demonsfrom around the world. The original artwork has been scanned with high-end color
management tech to faithfully reproduce the fine line work and subtle coloring.
AuthorShigeru Mizuki
Borin in 1922 in Tottori Prefecture. Mangaka who is always famous asa yokai painter and researcher.
His works include Gegege no Kitaro and Akuma-kun among many others. In 1991 he was awarded theMedal with Purple Ribbon. He traveled the world in pursuit of yokai and spirits. In 1996, he becamepresident of the World Yokai Associaion and held the World Yokai Summit. He was awarded the Orderof the Rising Sun in 2003.

© Disney

STUDIO GHIBLIThe Complete Works
From Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to theirlatest film, Earwig and the Witch, this bookintroduces all 26 Ghibli works! Earwig and the
Witch is the studio's first completely CG film.
Get the inside scoop from director Goro Miyazaki
about how it was made and read an interview
with producer and managing director Toshio
Suzuki. This is a must-read volume if you want tolearn about the Studio Ghibli's past and future!

All Ages

160 pages / 2021
Sold: China, France, Italy, Korea, Spain, Taiwan, USA