FINDING
YOUR
MAGIC :A WORLD -RENOWNEDAUTHOR REVEALSHER SECRETKADONO Eiko began writing at the urging of her former university
instructor. Her debut work in 1970 was based on her experience in Brazil.
It was then that she realized the joy of writing.

Japanese children’s book writer
KADONO Eiko believes that“everybody has a magical ability.”
She said, “All people havesomething they’re good at or thatthey want to do. To find it, youhave to do something you likeevery day. When a person does
something they like, they shine

KADONO Eiko, the author of children’s
literature known around the world for Kiki’s
Delivery Service, has created many works inreaction to a childhood experience that wasconstrained by the harshness of the times. Herworks have magically empowered readers acrossgenerations and borders, but what was theinspiration behind her works?

and they can lead a life that isvibrant, not boring.”
Kadono’s magical ability is
undoubtedly writing stories. Whenshe made her writing debut, herdaughter was still little, so she
wrote on a drawing board hanging
from her neck while engaged inher daily childrearing. “Writing

Edogawa Ward in Tokyo, where Kadono lived as a child, will open a museum in 2023 where visitors canlearn about the author’s achievements, see the worlds of her works, and experience the wonder ofchildren’s literature. Its nickname is “Kiki’s Museum of Literature.” The museum will house around 9,000
works of children’s literature. Kadono focused on selecting short stories because she wants children
visiting to have the experience of reading a whole book.

for me gave me time to relax andbe myself amid the daily grind oftaking care of my child. I realized
I’d found something good.” In thehalf-century or so since she beganwriting at the age of 34, Kadono
has published over 250 works.
Kadono was born in 1935,
and therefore experienced war
as a child. After the fighting
ended, she was enamored of new
foreign cultural influences anddecided to major in British andAmerican literature at university.
After graduating, she worked
for a publisher, then marriedand emigrated with her husband
to Brazil, where they stayed for
two years. They traveled aroundWestern countries using themoney that they had saved fromworking in Brazil. Reflecting
on her youth, when she hopped
around the world looking for newplaces to explore, Kadono said,“During the war, we didn’t haveenough food and we lived with allsorts of restrictions. Being freed
from that was such a great joy.”
She added, “It’s not that I
dislike tradition. What bothers
me is having to go in one directionthat somebody else has chosen
against my will. I want to be theone making the decisions about
myself. I guess most people whoexperienced a time of war when
one couldn’t speak one’s mind
probably think the same way.” In
Kadono’s definitive work, Kiki’s
Delivery Service, a young witch
named Kiki leaves home andfinds her own way as a witch,occasionally butting heads withtradition. When the book wasadapted into an animated featurefilm, the story crossed the seas andgained worldwide recognition.
Surprisingly, Kadono has only
recently produced works dealing
with the subject of war. “I had

wanted to write about the war I
experienced, but I didn’t want toforce an adult’s point of view onreaders.” This is why she decided
to write her first book about thetopic, Tonneru no mori 1945
(Tunnel Forest, 1945), from theperspective of a 10-year-old child(Iko) living through a war. The
follow-up story, Iko Traveling
1948-, was an autobiographicalnovel about the character’s life
after the conflict.
Kadono’s books are always
surprising,engaging,andempowering. She won recognition
for her achievements in 2018,
when she received the Hans
Christian Andersen Award forWriting, which is also considered
the “Little Nobel Prize.” A girltrying to start a career as a witch,a ghost of a little girl who wants
to go to school, a girl who lives
through the calamity of war,
an old woman who travels on amotorcycle ... such women andgirls, who take action and havea positive attitude, frequently
appear in Kadono’s works, and*Japanese edition published by Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.

Top: Kadono’s most celebrated work, Kiki’s
Delivery Service*, has been translated into 17
languages, and has found loving readers acrossthe world. “Every person who reads the bookfeels something different. I don’t stress mythemes in my works, because I want readers to be
free to interpret each theme as they wish.”Bottom: Kadono decorates her home withwitch-themed ornaments she has picked up on
her travels across the globe.

their stories overlap with theauthor’s own.
Jumping into the wider world,
untethering yourself, following
your ambition, and finding themagic within you—helping
readers across generations andborders find magic in themselvesin such a way is the magic ofKadono’s works.