J A PA N E S E B O A R D O N B O O K S F O R Y O U N G P E O P L E

2019Japanese
Children's Books

Cover illustration

Koji Suzuki
Born in Shizuoka in 1947. Koji Suzuki’s
works include original picture books,
collections of drawings, manga, posters for films and dramatic productions,st age designs , wall paintings , andmore. Many of his picture books havewon prizes, and Yama no disuko (Discoon the Mountain; Kakusha, 1989) andDomu gatari (Dome Story, Tamagawa
University Press, 2017) were selected forthe IBBY Honour List.

Japanese Children's Books

2019

Contents● About JBBY and this Catalog .................................................................................................3● Recent Japanese Children's Books Recommended by JBBY
Picture books (29 titles) .............................................................................................................4
Chapter books and novels (23 titles) ....................................................................................9
Nonfiction (29 titles) ................................................................................................................. 15● The Hans Christian Andersen Award
Five winners and 12 nominees from Japan ..................................................................... 20● Eiko Kadono: Writer of Books that Bring People Together
An introduction to Eiko Kadono, winner of the2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award ............................................................................... 22● Japanese Books Selected for the IBBY Honour List ................................................. 26● Recent Translations into Japanese Recommended by JBBY ................................ 28● Book Selection Team .............................................................................................................. 30

Japanese Children's Books
About JBBY and This Catalog
The Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY) was founded in 1974
as the Japanese Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).
JBBY is dedicated to enhancing international understanding, and to providing information on children’s books to people around the world. We promote IBBY’s mission in a broad range of ways. Our international network
allows us to take advantage of the prolific information generated by IBBY
and to encourage mutual understanding. Our mission is to create a peaceful
future for children through books.
JBBY hosts international book exhibitions in Japan that provide information
about global titles to Japanese readers. In addition, we provide information
on Japanese children’s books to people around the world. We nominate
titles for international recognition, as a means to deepen global understanding towards Japan.
In this catalog, we describe recent Japanese books recommended by
a JBBY book selection team in several categories: picture books, chapter books and novels, and nonfiction. In addition, we introduce Japanese winners of and nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen Award;
books selected for the IBBY Honour List from Japan; and recent translations into Japanese recommended by JBBY.
We list the recent Japanese books by category and in order of target age,
including cover images and synopses along with bibliographic information.
We hope you will enjoy reading about these books. For further information,please contact us: info@jbby.org
Yumiko SAKUMA, JBBY President

Cover illustration Ⓒ Koji Suzuki

Recent
Picture
Books

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ぎゅ ぎゅ ぎゅ ―かえるぴょんText/Illus. Komagata, Katsumi | Kadokawa | 2018 | 20 pp.

Text/Illus. Sasameya, Yuki | Kodansha | 2017 | 28 pp. || 18 x 18 cm | ISBN 978-4-04-106321-7 | Ages 0+ | Cir-

27 x 19 cm | ISBN 978-4-06-133319-2 | Ages 2+ | Frogs,

cles, Cutouts, Colors

Ponds, Jumping

This is the first board book in 19 years from theglobally active graphic designer and picture bookartist, Katsumi Komagata—and was created for
his first grandchild. Circles, which evoke eyes orbreasts, are among the first shapes babies recognize. In this book, circles of red and black join up,
stretch, pop, and show all kinds of unexpectedmovement. Finally, vivid colors spread out, rivetingthe baby’s eyes. Onomatopoeia and round cutouts
appeal to the baby’s senses. When parents readthis book with infants, their sensations will definitely resonate with one another, deepening theplay experience for all. (Hiromatsu)

A frog pops out of the pond, and then pyon! jumps
onto a leaf. And then, pyon! into the garden. And
then, pyon! way up on the roof! The frog jumps
higher and higher, soon arriving above the clouds.
There, after some warm-up exercise, the frog aims
even higher than that. In Japan, small-mindedness
is cautioned against with the saying, “The creaturein the well does not know the great sea.” But thissmall frog jumps from a small pond to the great
beyond, all with an innocent face. It’s such fun! The
simple story matches the naïve yet interesting illustrations. The happy ending shows the frog backat the starting point, which makes you want toread again! (Hiromatsu)

Gyu gyu gyu（Gyu Gyu Gyuu!）

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5

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どしゃぶり

やもじろうとはりきち

まっくらやみのまっくろ

Text: Onari, Yuko | Illus. Hata, Koshiro | Kodansha | 2018 |Text/Illus. Furiya, Nana | Kosei Shuppansha | 2017 | 32

Text/Illus. mirocomachiko | Shogakukan | 2017 | 36 pp. |32 pp. | 27 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-06-133324-6 | Ages 3+ |pp. | 23 x 25 cm | ISBN 978-4-333-02766-8 | Ages 3+ |31 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-09-726739-3 | Aged 4+ | Dark-

Summer, Rain, Play, Sound

Geckos, Hedgehogs, Friendshipness, Life, Birth

Doshaburi is the Japanese word for downpour.
One summer afternoon, a squall strikes. The huge
drops of rain splattering on the ground bring withthem the smell of earth and sky. A boy goes out
with his umbrella, and the raindrops beat upon it
like a drum. Sounds made by the heavy rain comefrom the ground and from the sky, as if the rain
were singing. The boy casts aside his umbrella andruns into the deluge, jumping into the puddles andgetting soaking wet. The illustrations are superb,
capturing each movement as if in slow motion as
the raindrops bounce off the ground and sparkle
like jewels. (Nogami)

A gecko named Yamojiro and a hedgehog named
Harikichi have been friends since they were babies.
But lately, Yamojiro finds playing with Harikichi
boring. After all, Harikichi moves slowly, is badat tree-climbing, and laughs even when teased.
Yamojiro gets fed up and yells, “I hate you, Harikichi!” But when Yamojiro is threatened by a cat,Harikichi comes to his aid unhesitatingly. The author, a fan of reptiles, draws this story of friendshipfrom the gecko’s perspective. Skillfull changes inthe visual composition guide readers’ eyes, moving the story along. The author’s eye for children’s
daily life is sharp and kind. (Hiromatsu)

In the darkness, Makkuro (literally means pitchblack) doesn’t know what he is. But a great powerwells up inside him, and he changes shape repeatedly. He grows white horns and thinks he’s a rhinoceros, and then a design forms on his body andhe’s a guinea fowl. After that, his legs elongate andhe becomes a frog. His surroundings evolve too,filling up with soil, water and light. Just when atlast Makkuro grows a long neck and thinks he’s agiraffe, he becomes a scarlet flower and produces
seeds. Bold, kinetic illustrations jolt the reader’ssenses. This is a story of life, birth, metaphor andmetamorphosis. Perpetual change evokes primalenergy, and endless transformation sparks a senseof possibility that lingers long after readers close
the book. (Hiromatsu)

Doshaburi（Downpour）

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Kaeru pyon（Hopping Frog）

Yamojiro to Harikichi（Yamojiro and Harikichi）

Makkurayami no makkuro（Makkuro in the Dark）

Recent Picture Books for Ages 0 and Up678

こどもべやのおともだち アンナとビイプ

おばあちゃんとおんなじ

きみちゃんとふしぎねこ

Text/Illus. Komine, Yura | Kodansha | 2018 | 44 pp. | 21

Text/Illus. Nakazawa, Kumiko | Kaiseisha | 2018 | 32

Text/Illus. Fujiwara, Hiroko | Hisakata Child | 2018 | 32

x 17 cm | ISBN 978-4-06-511856-6 | Ages 4+ | Dolls,

pp. | 27 x 21 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-332830-0 | Ages 4+ |pp. | 29 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-86549-137-1 | Ages 4+ |Teddy bears, Girls

Grandmother, Secret, Look-alikeCats, Transformation, Adventure, Walking

It is dark and boring inside the drawer, andcramped and uncomfortable in the basket. Anna
the doll and Biep the stuffed bear both grumble
about their living conditions, but then it’s decided
they will live together in a lovely dolls’ room. Bothhave quite different personalities; Anna is positive
and active, while Biep likes taking things easy andis a worrier. The relationship between the dolls
and the little girl they belong to draws the reader
into the world of this picture book and its exquisitely detailed illustrations. The book includes a
prologue and three very short stories: “I Want tobe a Patissier,” “I Want to Be an Explorer,” and “I
Want To Be a Ballerina.” The author is a doll makerand collector of antique dolls. (Hiromatsu)

Nacchan is of ten told that she looks just likeGrandma. She looks at her grandma’s wrinkledface and thinks grumpily, “I don’t look like her one
bit!” But one day she goes shopping with Grandma, who shows her a secret place where many
dandelions bloom. Grandma played here often as
a girl. Nacchan learns about Grandma’s childhoodfor the first time, makes flower chains with her, andis happy to discover they have lots in common.
The illustrations, made by whittling disposable
chopsticks and inking the points to draw lines andthen adding color, are detailed and warm. (Shirota)

Kimi-chan is eating ice on the veranda when awhite cat appears and says, “That looks good!”
The cat eats Kimi-chan’s ice cream and then suddenly removes its fur, saying, “If you wear this, you
can become a cat!” When Kimi-chan puts the furon, she indeed becomes a white cat. In the sameway, when the cat puts on Kimi-chan’s clothes, thecat transforms into a girl! Kimi-chan as rookie cat
tails along behind a striped cat, walking atop thegarden wall and the roof, which is fun—but also
dangerous. The cheerful illustrations help us toimagine, If I were a cat, what would I do? (Shirota)

Anna to Bipu（Playroom Friends Anna and Biep）

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Obaachan to onnaji（Just Like Granny）

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黄金りゅうと天女

Kimichan to fushigi neko（Kimi-chan and the Amazing Cat）

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じょやのかね

ぞろりぞろりとやさいがね

Koganeryu to tennyo（The Golden Dragon And The Heavenly Maiden）

Joya no kane
（Ring the Bell on New Year’s Eve）

Zorori zorori to yasai ga ne（Line Up Vegetables, All in the Line）

Text: Shirota, Noboru | Illus. Akaba, Suekichi | BL Shup-

Text/Illus. Togo, Narisa | Fukuinkan Shoten | 2017 | 32

Text/Illus. Hirokawa, Saeko | Kaiseisha | 2017 | 36 pp. | 25

pan | 2018 | 32 pp. | 30 x 21 cm | ISBN 978-4-7764-0822-

pp. | 28 x 23 cm | ISBN 978-4-8340-8369-9 | Ages 4+ |x 21 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-232490-7 | Ages 4+ | Vegeta-

2 | Ages 4+ | Dragons, Okinawa, Folklore

New Year’s Eve, Night, Rituals

bles, Moonlit nights, Protest marches

This picture book retells an Okinawan folktale.
Once upon a time, a heavenly maiden appeared toa man and woman of different social rank and told
them to move from Naha to the island of Geruma.
The two married and were blessed with a little
girl named Kana. On Kana’s seventh birthday, she
told her parents that she must go to heaven. She
climbed to the top of the mountain and was carried away on the back of a golden dragon. Many
years later, the island was attacked by pirates, andKana returned on the dragon to vanquish themwith a tornado. The young bamboo at the rootof the tornado stabbed the top of Ojima and became Ohyuri Forest. Akaba’s illustrations capture
the dashing figure of Kana and the power of the
dragon. (Doi)Ringing the temple bell on New Year’s Eve is a tradition in Japanese Buddhism. As the year changes,
the bell is rung 108 times. In this picture book,a little boy goes with his papa to help ring thebell for the first time. He decides to keep his eyes
open, so as not to miss the moment when the New
Year arrives! Father and son hurry along a quiet
road in darkness. Then, they see crowds lined up
at the temple, making it look different than usual.
The steaming sweet sake, the smell of incense, andthe low bong of the bell...the accompanying black
and white prints inspire the imagination and pique
the senses. While learning about a Japanese ritual,
readers share in the boy’s nervousness, pride, andsense of the sacred. (Hiromatsu)

One moonlit night when the people have gone
to bed, vegetables neglected in a corner of the
kitchen rouse themselves and leave the house.
Vegetables from many houses converge in a fallow
field and plot revenge against the humans, whohave let them decay. But an insect priest and monkstop them. They urge the vegetables not to growrotten to their core. Instead, they can return to thesoil and be reborn as delicious vegetables. Thisdelightful picture book nudges us to make themost of food and be kind to Nature. The featuresof each vegetable and insect are skillfully rendered
to make them seem human. The end proffers some
useful veggie wisdom. (Hiromatsu)

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トコトコバス

Toko toko basu（Put-Put Bus）

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ルラルさんのだいくしごと

かんけり

Ruraru san no daiku shigoto（Mr. Ruraru, Sunday Carpenter）

Kankeri（Kick the Can）

Text/Illus. Takahashi, Kazue | Kodansha | 2018 | 32 pp. |Text/Illus. Ito, Hiroshi | Poplar | 2017 | 32 pp. | 24 x 25 cm

23 cm | ISBN 978-4-7520-0853-8 | Ages 5+ | Friendship,

Moon, Moon viewing, Night| ISBN 978-4-591-15530-1 | Ages 4+ | Roofs, Ladders

Play, Courage

When a boy and his mother board a bus, it putters through town at twilight making its distinctive sound, toko toko toko. At the Keen, Keenstop, an insec t gets on. At the Boing, Boing
stop, two rabbits get on. Everybody’s destination is Moon Viewing Hill, and at the next-tolast stop, the moon itself gets on. When the bus
arrives, the moon rises to the sky. Now, it’s time
for moon viewing! The repetition of toko toko
and dreamlike illustrations make this a splendid
fantasy picture book. (Shirota)

This is the eighth picture book in a series featuring
a middle-aged man named Ruraru. Today Ruraru
uses his carpentry skills to repair the roof of his
house. He climbs to the roof, handily fixes a leak,and then looks at the sky with satisfaction. But
just as he is about to climb down, his ladder collapses to the ground! What’s more, some animals
take the ladder to play train, and they go far away.
What will Ruraru do? The decision he makes on
the roof will linger in readers’ minds. This bookfeatures soft illustrations of a very unique world.
(Shirota)

In the game Kick the Can, one person is designated as “it” and an empty can is placed on the
ground. Everyone else hides while “it” covers hisor her eyes and counts to 30. Whenever “it” finds
someone, he or she puts a foot on the can and theperson goes to “jail.” Other players can free theprisoners by kicking the can when “it” is not looking. A shy little girl named Chie is so afraid of kicking the can, she has never saved anyone. This time
she hides with her friend Rie, but Rie is caught
when she goes out to kick the can. Chie screws
up her courage to save her friend and succeeds inkicking it. The illustrations eloquently portray thefeelings of the shy little girl and present the action
from bold, dramatic angles. (Nogami)

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夏がきた

巨人の花よめクマと少年

Text/Illus. Hajiri, Toshikado | Asunaro Shobo | 2017 | 32

Text: Hishiki, Akirako | Illus. Hirasawa, Tomoko | BL

Text/Illus. Abe, Hiroshi | Bronze Publishing | 2018 | 40

pp. | 24 x 26 cm | ISBN 978-4-7515-2830-3 | Ages 5+ |Shuppan | 2018 | 32 pp. | 30 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-7764-

pp. | 28 x 23 cm | ISBN 978-4-89309-631-9 | Ages 5+ |Summer, Summer sounds, Beach rest houses

0836-9 | Ages 5+ | Saami, Giants, Wisdom

Gods, Bears, Life

This work unfolds in a Japanese seaside village. As
summer vacation begins, a child calls to neighborchildren, “Hey, let’s play!” and they go to the beach
together. Here, preparations are underway at arest house (for changing clothes, taking breaks,
and buying snacks). The children help with thechores and get watermelon slices and rice balls
in return. Bamboo mats, wind chimes, barley tea,straw hats, fans…puffy clouds, a sudden shower,
potted morning glories, mosquito coils, fireworks.
This book exudes summer, which you can feel even
without reading the text. Chosen as an IBBY Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities.
(Sakuma)

A Swedish to Japanese translator retells the legends of the Saami people of Lapland in Sweden,
and an ar tist provides wonderful illustrations
researched on location. When a giant who lives
in the mountains falls in love at first sight witha beautiful Saami girl, Charmie, she wracks her
brains to find a way to escape from him but things
don’t go well. Finally their wedding banquet isheld, and she takes advantage of the giant and his
guests making merry to dress a log in her bridal
clothes and make her getaway. She digs a largehole in the ice on the river to exterminate the giantthat had caused so many problems for the villagers. (Sakuma)

This picture book conveys an oral tradition of the
Ainu, Hokkaido’s indigenous people, who revere
bears as gods. In this tale, the men of a village
set off on a bear hunt. They kill a bear, taking its
fur and meat as a gift from the gods. They also
bring back a cub they found in the den, and it israised by a mother with a suckling child. The boy
and bear grow up as brothers. When the bear matures and it is time for it to be sacrificed in a ritual
ceremony, returning it to the land of the gods, itescapes into the forest. Years later, the boy, now aman, is sent by the village chief to return the bearto the gods. He goes into the forest bearing his
bow and arrows. This tale is told in epic style anddeftly depicted against the stunning backdrop of
the natural world. (Nogami)

Natsu ga kita（Summer Is Here）

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Text/Illus. Ishikawa, Eriko | Alice-kan | 2018 | 35 pp. | 27 x

27 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-06-512804-6 | Ages 4+ | Buses,

Kyojin no hanayome (The Bride of the Giant）

Kuma to shonen（The Boy and the Bear）

Recent Picture Books for Ages 4 and Up
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せかいかえるかいぎ

バッタロボットのぼうけん

やまのかいしゃText/Illus. Kondo, Kumiko | Poplar | 2018 | 32 pp. | 27 x

Text/Illus. Matsuoka, Tatsuhide | Poplar | 2018 | 40 pp. |Text: Suzuki, Koji | Illus. Katayama, Ken | Fukuinkan Sho-

22 cm | ISBN 978-4-591-15852-4 | Ages 5+ | Frogs, Wa-

31 x 24 cm | ISBN 978-4-591-15882-1 | Ages 5+ | Grass-ten | 2018 | 40 pp. | 24 x 30 cm | ISBN 978-4-8340-8400-

terfront, World, Summit meetings

hoppers, Robots, Adventure

9 | Ages 5+ | Mountains, Business people, Freedom

This entertaining picture book is densely packed
with illustrations that convey the humorous expressions and gestures of frogs of all shapes andsizes, from the cover right through the fly leaf
and into the main text. The rumor that a world
frog summit will be held spreads rapidly as a frog
song. Frogs of all kinds, including green frogs, redfrogs, and warty frogs, begin to gather, increasing
in number rapidly. The conversations of countless wisecracking frogs resemble the cacophonyof a chorus of frogs in a rice field in spring. The
astounding diversity represented within this multitude adds to the fun of the illustrations. (Nogami)

A professor’s latest invention is a red, grasshopper-shaped robot that flies through the sky! On
summer vacation, the professor welcomes children
on board, leaves Japan, and heads to Borneo,
Australia, and New Zealand on a nature adventure. When the robot lands in a tall jungle tree in
Borneo, the children transfer to an amphibious
pill-bug shaped vehicle and investigate unusual
animals, birds, and insects. In this book, the living things of Borneo and Oceania come to life inrealistic illustrations, making it a valuable read.
The funny grasshopper robot is also a source ofdelight. (Shirota)

Mr. Hogeta, who has trouble waking up in themorning, heads to work in the afternoon. He walks
to the train station still brushing his teeth, barely
making the train, and then realizes that he forgot
his bag and his glasses. What’s more, the train hethought was bound for the town is fast heading
to the mountains. When he arrives, he decides to
go to “the mountain company”. He meets his colleague Mr. Hoisa, and they phone the CEO froma mountain peak. Then they call everyone in theircompany to come join them. A work life unfolds
that is full of freedom and whimsy, quite opposite
to the typical, somber image of Japanese business.
First published in 1991, this rare collaboration by
two luminaries of Japanese picture books is now
being re-released. (Hiromatsu)

Sekai kaeru kaigi（World Frog Summit）

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Batta robotto no boken（Grasshopper Robot Adventure）

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Yama no kaisha（Mountain Company）

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わたしの森にイオマンテ ―めぐるいのちの贈り物

大名行列

Text: Binard, Arthur | Illus. Tashima, Seizo | Kumon Shup-

Text: Ryo, Michiko | Illus. Kobayashi, Toshiya | Rokurinsha

Text/Illus. Shigeri, Katsuhiko | Shogakukan | 2018 | 32

pan | 2018 | 32 pp. | 22 x 30 cm | ISBN 978-47743-27969 || 2018 | 68 pp. | 26 x 19 cm | ISBN 978-4-907542-566 |pp. | 26 x 21 cm | ISBN 978-4-09-726775-1 | Ages 6+ |Ages 5+ | Snakes, Nature, Life

Ages 6+ | Ainu (Indigenous people), Life, Bears

Samurai, Parades, Satire

Snow falls deep in a forest. Someone asleep under
the snow senses its weight, and feels the comingof spring. When she awakens hungry, she seizes
some prey and gobbles it down. The “she” is actually a mamushi or venomous snake. The mamushi
has eyes to detect light and heat. She is venomous but bites only if threatened. After mating,she schedules her pregnancy and the birth of her
young to suit herself! This picture book got its
start when the author and illustrator both exhibited in the Illustrator’s Museum of Picture Book Art.
The story, told from the mamushi’s point of view,
exudes both affection and reverence. The reader
joins with nature in the book in the same spirit asentering a forest quietly. (Hiromatsu)

A picture book about the ritual held by the Ainu,
indigenous people of Hokkaido, when bears were
killed. The protagonist is a young boy who dotes
on a bear cub after its mother was killed by his father. They grow up together, and the villagers, too,rear the bear carefully as a god. However, the day
they must part finally arrives. It is time to hold theritual to send the grown bear cub to the land of
the gods. A range of emotions in the unique worldof the Ainu is beautifully portrayed through poetical phrasing and powerful scratch art illustrations.
In these times, when life is often treated lightly,
this work shows what it means to accept its blessings. (Sakuma)

In the Edo period (1603-1868) nobles granted territory by the shogun would have to organize elaborate parades of their samurai retainers, events
that would show authority and strengthen fealty
to the shogun; it is said that when they passed
by, onlookers had to prostrate themselves by theroad. In this book, however, a formal procession
becomes a source of laughter. Mixed in among thesamurai marching with serious faces, are modern
boxed-lunch and baked-potato vendors, giant
sumo wrestlers, dinosaurs, and even UFOs! At theend, we learn this nonsensical procession emerged
from some children’s play in the sandbox. Society
upended! The rendering of whimsical imaginings
with highly realistic illustrations adds to the glee inthis book. (Hiromatsu)

Watashi no mori ni（Here in My Forest）

Iomante (Iomante: The Gift of the Cycle of Life）

Daimyo gyoretsu（Daimyo Parade）

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太陽といっしょTaiyo to issho（With the Sun）

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ハテナちゃんとふしぎのもり

ぼんやきゅうHatena chan to fushigi no mori（Hatena-chan and the Forest of Mysteries）

Bonyakyu（The Obon Baseball Tournament）

Text/Illus. Shingu, Susumu | Crayon House | 2017 | 40
Text/Illus. Tanaami, Keiichi | Sobokusha | 2017 | 36 pp. || 2018 | 40 pp. | 28 x 23 cm | ISBN 978-4-591-15904-0 |Bicycles, Dogs, Adventures

30 x 21 cm | ISBN 978-4-903773-27-8 | Ages 6+ | Illusion

Ages 6+ | Tsunami, Obon, Baseball, Earthquake recovery“Let’s go on a bike. We’ll take the puppy, invite
friends, ride through flower fields, head to theforest and have a good time! Uh-oh, now mist
has covered everything. Is that a dinosaur?!” Thereader assumes the main character’s point ofview, so we just see the lengthening shadows andthe passing scenery as they ride. Thus the reader
enters the book and shares in the sensual andemotional journey, surrounded by nature. The author is an artist known for creating sculptures thatmove with Nature’s energy. Determined to convey
Earth’s wonders, he has been presenting original
picture books since the 1970s. (Hiromatsu)

A modern artist active internationally for morethan half a century, the illustrator of this bookapplies his long-honed talents to a book of optical illusions. A girl named Hatena-chan loves fun
and surprises and comes to play in the Mysterious
Forest. When she draws near a tree’s silhouette, itturns out to be made of monkeys. Leaves take theshapes of animals and birds in a seek-and-find.
Classic optical illusions like Rubin’s vase, a Möbius
strip, and a Penrose triangle even appear. While
enjoying the colorful pop art, one can relish the“eye tricks” along with Hatena-chan. (Hiromatsu)

Being next to the sea, the district of Unosumai in
Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture, was severely damagedby the tsunami in 2011. Because of that, the baseball tournament held during the summer Obonfestival ever since the end of the war was also cancelled. Everybody was too busy getting back on
their feet. In 2017, local fathers decided to revive
the tournament in order to help the area recover.
This picture book portrays the occasion from thechildren’s perspective. The artist went to the location to talk to various people, so the pictures makeyou feel as though you are actually there. At theend of the book, a history of the district’s Obon
Baseball Tournament and how it was revived is included along with photos. (Sakuma)

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みえるとかみえないとか

手ぶくろを買いにざしき童子のはなし

Text/Illus. Yoshitake, Shinsuke | Ito, Asa (consultant) |Text: Niimi, Nankichi | Illus. Doi, Kaya | Asunaro Shobo

Text: Miyazawa, Kenji | Illus. Okada, Chiaki | Miki Shoko |Alice-kan | 2018 | 32 pp. | 26 x 20 cm | ISBN 978-4-7520-| 2018 | 32 pp. | 31 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-7515-2837-2 |2017 | 40 pp. | 26 x 24 cm | 978-4-89588-138-8 | Ages 8+0842-2 | Ages 6+ | Sight, Disabilities, Barrier-freeAges 7+ | Mittens, Foxes, Winter, Humans| Sprite, Kenji Miyazawa, Tohoku

A popular author who stimulates conversation witheach of his works, Yoshitake Shinsuke now offersa fresh, accessible picture book about people withdisabilities. He approaches this delicate subject
with humor and with outer space as the setting.
A boy astronaut meets a space creature with eyes
in back, and another who cannot see, and experiences differences, similarities, the joy of living together, and difficulties. Easy to follow with bright,
comical illustrations, this book will open readers’hearts and create opportunities to consider thebasics of a barrier-free society. (Hiromatsu)

Children’s author Niimi Nankichi (1913-1943) has
been long loved by Japanese children, and his
most popular work of all has been newly illustrated
by a contemporary artist. When a fox cub’s front
paws get cold as it plays in the snow, the motherfox turns one of the cub’s front paws into a child’shand, gives it a couple of coins, and sends it to thestore. The fox cub holds out the wrong paw, butsince the human sells it the glove anyway, it isn’t at
all afraid. When it gets home, its mother also says,“I suppose it’s possible that humans really are
good.” The illustrations capture the love between
the mother fox and her cub amidst the snowy
landscape. (Sakuma)

A broom is heard in the tatami room, but no one’s
sweeping. Ten children gather but eleven are seen.
These tales were written by Kenji Miyazawa (18961933) about childlike sprites long found in the loreof Tohoku, his native northeastern Japan. Fourepisodes form this omnibus work, one of few published during Miyazawa’s lifetime. This version is
29th in a series in which modern picture book artists, all unique, present Miyazawa’s stories. Here,the skills of an artist known for evoking children’s
features and actions, and the feeling of air in
Nature, are on full display. The pictures lend persuasive power that makes one think, “Maybe it’s adream, but no, it must be real!” (Hiromatsu)

Mieru toka mienai toka（To See or Not to See）

8

Text: Sashida, Kazu | Illus. Hasegawa, Yoshifumi | Poplar

pp. | 21 x 31 cm | ISBN 978-4-86101-345-4 | Ages 6+ |Tebukuro o kaini（Shopping for Mittens）

Zashiki bokko no hanashi（Sprite Stories）

Recent Chapter Books and Novels for Ages 6 and Up

RecentChapterBooks
andNovels31

たぬきのたまご

Tanuki no tamago（The Raccoon Dog’s Egg）

30

あんみんガッパのパジャマやさん

Anmin gappa no pajamaya san（The Sleep Well Pajama Store）

Text: Kashiwaba, Sachiko | Illus. Soga, Mai | Shogakukan |2018 | 72 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-09-289760-1 | Ages
6+ | Witches, Pajamas, Kappas

It is rumored that in the shopping arcade of a certain
town, there is a Sleep Well Pajama Store which sells pajamas that give thewearer a good night’s sleep. It’s famous, but the store doesn’t have a signboard, so no one knows exactly where it is. Moyo goes out to eat with her
mom and notices this strange store, its front in the form of a green kappa’s
large open mouth that nobody else can see (kappas are water sprites known
for being troublemakers). Then a witch in a black cape turns up, and disappears through the kappa’s mouth with her black cat. Moyo follows her into
the store, and a kappa with a bent back comes to take the measurements forsome pajamas for the witch, who is having trouble sleeping. The witch’s cat
knows that the pajamas are in fact cursed, and in order to counter the curse
secretly makes the measurements wrong. After the witch leaves, the kappa
notices Moyo, and despite her refusal goes ahead with making pajamas forher. Instead of asking for payment, the kappa says he’ll take the dreams she
has while sleeping. When she gets home she finds some cute pajamas like awhite cat cartoon-character costume have been delivered. When Moyo puts
them on, she suddenly wants to run around the room as though she was acat. And then she falls on the floor and has a terrifying nightmare. When she
asks the kappa why he made pajamas like that, he tells her that he hasn’t
slept for several hundred years, and wants to give everyone a taste of what it
felt like. And so Moyo teaches him how to sleep well. It is a funny and heartwarming story, if somewhat scary and mysterious at times. (Nogami)

32

ともだちのときちゃん

Tomodachi no Toki chan（My Friend, Toki）

Text: Uchida, Rintaro | Illus. Takabatake, Jun | Ginnosuzu-

Text: Iwase, Joko | Illus. Ueda, Makoto | Froebell-kan |sha | 2017 | 112 pp. | 21 x 15 cm | ISBN 978-4-86618-021-2 |2017 | 72 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-577-04574-9 |Ages 6+ | Wordplay, Mothers, Nature, Nonsense

Ages 6+ | Friendship, Personality, Taking one’s time

This is a collection of poems by popular picture bookauthor Rintaro Uchida, who calls himself an ekotoba
sakka (someone who puts words to pictures). The first section is dedicatedto poems about mothers. It begins with a two-line poem “Toguro” (Coil) that
reads, “Snake never knew his mother, so sometimes sleeps hugging himself.”
The coiled form of the snake sparks an image of an innocent child curled up
fast asleep, but the words “never knew his mother” catch at the heartstrings.
This is followed by the poem “Waratte iru” (Smiling), which reads, “Fair andcloudy, cloudy and fair, the sun plays peek-a-boo with the earth,” and ends
with the words, “The earth is smiling at mother.” The third poem “Fukuro”(Owl), begins with the line, “Grandpa Owl calls his mother, his mother who
has passed away.” The voice of the elderly owl echoes mournfully as he recalls his mother when he was young and thinks of her in heaven, and thepoem moves back and forth between sorrow and joy. This is followed by thefeelings of seals, whales and kappa, as well as humans, for their mothers, allexpressed with words that linger in the heart. The theme of the second section is “Kibo” (Hope) and of the third section is “Tanuki no tamago” (Raccoon
Dog’s Egg). As indicated by the fact that raccoon dogs don’t lay eggs, the lastsection includes a wealth of entertaining word play and nonsense poems.
Throughout, the author deftly employs ambiguity and homonyms, which are
distinctive features of the Japanese language. (Nogami)

Satsuki, a girl in her second year of elementary school,
likes to chat and get things done. Her classmate Tokichan, on the other hand, often cannot answer questions quickly and takes
her time with things. At the request of Toki-chan’s mother, Satsuki walks toschool with Toki-chan daily and spends lots of time with her. But when Tokichan moves slowly, Satsuki often grows frustrated, and when Satsuki can’t
stand to wait anymore, she sometimes goes ahead, thinking to herself, “Surely
this isn’t mean.” At first, Satsuki thinks Toki-chan strange because she canwatch a line of ants by the roadside endlessly, and she says things like, “Thetree is living, so it’s not the same tree it was yesterday.” But Satsuki eventuallycomes to see that because Toki-chan takes her time, she sees and feels things
that others cannot. Satsuki’s story, which is told in the straightforward words
of a seven-year-old, shows how she changes and grows through her friendship with someone who has quite a different personality and way of doing
things. The illustrations lend a gentle touch that calms the heart. (Shirota)9

33

ふたりはとっても本がすき！

34

Yonin no yakko（The Four Yakkos）

Text: Kisaragi, Kazusa | Illus. Ichikawa, Natsuko | Komine

Text: Nishiuchi, Minami | Illus. Hata, Koshiro | Suzuki Shup-

Shoten | 2018 | 63 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-338-19236-1

pan | 2018 | 80 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-7902-3341-1 || Ages 6+ | Reading, Libraries, Opposites

Ages 6+ | Wishes, Look-alike, Identity

Classmates Cheetah and Hippo both love to readbooks, but their ways of reading are different. One day, Hippo sees Cheetah
borrow 10 books from the library. “Wow, she’s sure borrowing a lot,” Hippo
thinks, impressed. On the other hand, Cheetah sees Hippo borrow just a single book, and then renew it when he has not yet finished reading it. “Wow,
Hippo walks slowly, and he reads slowly too,” Cheetah thinks. Eventually,
Cheetah comes to respect how thoroughly Hippo reads every book. The fact
is, everyone reads and appreciates books in different ways. Cheetah herself
longs to know what happens next, and so she races along, reading one bookafter another. Hippo pauses over dialogue and narration that move him,
sometimes reading a passage so many times that he memorizes it. This story
shows a quick reader and a slow reader coming to respect the good in eachother’s ways. Finely detailed, warm illustrations convey the joy of sharing alove of reading. (Shirota)

35

わたしといろんなねこ

Watashi to ironna neko
（Lots of Cats and Me）

10

四人のヤッコ

Futari wa tottemo hon ga suki!
（The Two of Us Love Books!）

Yakko is an only child. Her mother raises her strictly,
believing that an only child can easily grow up to be selfish. Yakko frequently
grows exasperated with her mother’s nagging. One day, when her motherdirects, “Stop your video games now, and practice piano like you should,”
Yakko grudgingly responds, thinking to herself, “If there were only anotherone of me, she could practice in my place.” No sooner does a chill run down
her spine than another Yakko appears before her—one who is good at piano.
The real Yakko leaves practicing to her and runs off to play. But after that, athird Yakko appears who is good at playing, and a fourth Yakko appears who
is good at studies—and the new Yakkos begin living a much happier life than
the real one! What will the real Yakko do, now that her daydream has turnedout so different? A story that gaily takes up a wish many children have, of
a clone of oneself appearing to handle annoying chores or homework. The
book’s trendy, bright illustrations bring out an energetic, quirky main character. Fun to read without a trace of preachiness. (Shirota)

36

絵物語古事記Emonogatari Kojiki（Illustrated KOJIKI:
The Stories of Japanese Gods and Goddesses）

Text/Illus. Okuhara, Yume | Akane Shobo | 2018 | 95 pp.

Text: Tomiyasu, Yoko | Illus. Yamamura, Koji | Spv. Miura, Su-| 21 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-251-07307-5 | Ages 6+ | Cats,

keyuki | Kaiseisha | 2017 | 255 pp. | 22 x 15 cm | ISBN 978-4-

Friendship, Dreams, Grandmothers

03-744870-7 | Ages 8+ | Myths, Gods

Eight-year-old Aya loves cats. But since both of herparents work, they will not let her raise one. Today, Aya feels glum because
she fought with her good friend Akki, and they have not made up. What’smore, when Aya talks to Sakura, a child she met at the after-school playcenter, Sakura runs off. Aya so wants someone to talk to! Upon returning to
her empty house, as always, she pretends she has an invisible cat. She holds
the cat, pets its soft back, and talks to it. Aya knows that none of this is real.
But when she pretends, she enjoys herself, her anxiety lessens, and she findsthat she can relax. One day when she goes home, she sees that a huge cat
has gotten stuck in a door! After spending a bit of time with Aya, however,it disappears. What on earth? Another day, a cat no bigger than a keychain
appears! Why have these cats come? This story is a first chapter book by apicture book artist. Her unique, carefree illustrations capture the mystery in
Aya’s days, and the movements of her heart. (Shirota)

Dating back to AD 712, the Kojiki is said to be Japan’s
oldest historical record. It describes Japan’s history from the foundation of
the nation to the era of Empress Suiko in the 7th century. The first volume
tells richly imaginative tales of the gods, while volumes 2 and 3 record theimperial lineage and major events during each reign. In this book, a children’s
author who has been nominated for the Andersen Award from Japan retells
the stories of volume 1, accompanied by entertaining illustrations by an internationally renowned animator. The supervisor is a scholar of the Kojiki.
Myths known by Japanese children are retold here, such as the story of
how the god Izanaki and goddess Izanami used a magical spear to form thecountry out of chaos; the story of how after her death, Izanaki chased Izanami through the underworld; and stories of how the sun goddess Amaterasu
was so disgusted by the bad behavior of her younger brother Susanoo that
she hid herself in a cave, and how Susanoo slayed the eight-headed monster
Yamata no Orochi after being banished from heaven, and how the god Oonamuji saved the white hare that had its fur ripped out after tricking the sharks,
and about the quarrel between the god Hoderi, who lived off the bounty ofthe sea, and the god Hoori, who lived off the bounty of the mountain.
Tomiyasu retells these many myths from the perspective of a contemporary author, making them into highly readable, entertaining, and exciting
tales. Yamamura’s illustrations appear on every page, with amusing and humanlike portrayals of the deities that successfully draw children in. An afterword introduces how the Kojiki came to be written and the people who wereinvolved in producing it. (Sakuma)

Recent Chapter Books and Novels for Ages 6 and Up
37

ビブリオ ･ファンタジア シンデレラのねずみ

38

Yon miri domei（The 4-Millimeter League）

Text: Saito, Hiroshi | Illus. Moriizumi, Takehito | Kaiseisha |Text: Takadono, Hoko | Illus. Ono, Yayoi | Fukuinkan Shoten |2018 | 166 pp. | 20 x 14 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-727220-3 | Ages

2018 | 120 pp. | 20 x 14 cm | ISBN 978-4-8340-8395-8 | Ages

8+ | Libraries, Mystery, Fables, Secrets

9+ | Fantasy, Growing, Fruit

This is a collection of five short stories that shine alight on the mystery of the human mind. The main protagonist, who works
part-time at the children’s book counter of the local library, relates strange
tales that visitors share.
The first story, “Daichi’s Hopping Frog,” features a child of about four years
old. The boy makes up a cute and innocent tale about his toy frog that only
hops around when people aren’t looking.
In the story “Doppelganger,” a man comes to complain that he has been
told to return a book he never borrowed. It turns out that he has never readthe book in his life, yet strangely enough, he begins telling the tale of Faust
by Goethe. But who was it who actually borrowed the book?
In the story “Cinderella’s Mouse,” a girl in the fourth grade describes thebizarre behavior of a hamster her grandmother gave her. The girl suspects
that the hamster is a wizard. The owner of a repair company who comes to fix
the library’s electrical equipment relates a frightening tale in “The Haunted
Elevator.” And in the final story, “The Boy’s Dream,” in a twist on the idea ofdreams coming true, whatever happens in a dream becomes the past.
(Nogami)

39

４ミリ同盟

Shinderera no nezumi（Biblio Fantasia: Cinderella’s Mouse）

手塚治虫からの伝言（全 5 巻） 命

Inochi（Messages from Tezuka Osamu 5: Life）

This comical fable describes the efforts of four people,
all of whom are over forty and who long to taste the fruit of Fulakokono.
Although everyone eats this fruit when they grow up, 48-year-old Poitto
has tried 26 times to reach Fulakokono Island without success. One day, whileon his lunch break, he meets a woman named Ebeeta, and Ebeeta realizes
that she has not eaten Fulakokono fruit either. She can tell because people
who have not ever tasted it float four millimeters above the ground. Poitto
and Ebeeta discover another person like them, the painter Banbollo, and together they decide to build a raft and head for Fulakokono Island. They callthemselves the 4-Millimeter League and emblazon this on a flag over theirraft. An old woman named Kololeeta sees this and asks to join them. The fourcharacters successfully reach the island and taste the fruit. But when theygather to celebrate and disband their league, they confess that the fruit did
not agree with them, and the party turns into a celebration of the continuation of their league.
Those who eat the Fulakokono fruit become more grown up, but also lose
their childlike qualities. Banbollo declares that they gain something and, atthe same time, lose something when they eat the fruit, and within this statement lies the book’s message. What the four characters do and say often appears “childish” and lacking in “commonsense,” yet they are loveable all thesame. (Doi)40

青がやってきたHaru ga yatte kita（Here Comes Haru!）

Text: Tezuka, Osamu | Spv. Nakano, Haruyuki | Doshinsha |Text: Mahara, Mito | Illus. Tanaka, Hirotaka | Kaiseisha | 20172018 | 214 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-494-01843-7 | Ages

| 214 pp. | 19 x 13 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-649050-9 | Ages 10+ |10+ | Manga, Life

School transfers, Circuses, Magic

A collection of six works by Tezuka Osamu, Japan’s“god of manga,” on the theme of life. In “Flying Squirrel Musa,” an abandoned squirrel is raised by a camphor tree some 1,200
years old, and engages in life-or-death battle with a teen who wants to bea hunter. In “The End of Green,” five astronauts who left radiation-polluted
Earth arrive on a planet that has conscious plants; an astronaut falls in lovewith one of the plants. In “Sometimes Like Pearls,” the genius doctor Black
Jack learns of a past medical failure by his teacher, Dr. Honma. (The title refers to how a scalpel Dr. Honma left inside Black Jack when he operated on
him in his youth, was recovered later sheathed in calcium deposits.) In “TheGreat General Goes to the Jungle,” an attack causes General Ugetsu to makea forced landing in the south Pacific near the end of World War II; his life issaved by a tree spirit. “Yamataro Comes Back” features an orphaned bearraised by humans who is encouraged by Shiiroku, a steam engine, to run
away. Finally, “Lunn Flies into the Wind” portrays an isolated high schooler,
Akira, who takes heart when he develops a crush on a girl in a poster; henicknames and talks to her and even hopes to meet her. In each work, due
to the composition, shifts in perspective, and panel arrangement, a film-likedrama unfolds, offering not just entertainment but also a chance to ponder
life’s meaning. The same series offers volumes on friendship, robots, peace,
and the future. (Doi)This collection of short stories realistically portrays thedaily lives, environments, and problems of elementary school fifth grade children in five regions of Japan. Haru, a circus boy
who never spends much time in one school as his family is constantly on themove, plays a supporting role throughout the book. His father is a magician
in the world-famous Dream Circus, and Haru makes new friends at every new
school he attends. Mio, who lives in Kagoshima, is worried about being bad
at studying, while Mai, who lives in Fukuoka, has a complex about her appearance and an awkward relationship with her best friend. In Yamaguchi,
Haru catches straight A student Shu sneaking the vegetables from school
lunch into a plastic bag to hide them, and in Osaka he asks Kazuki to help
him get a circus dog back from the mean old man next door, while in Chiba
Koki presses Haru to use magic to bring back his father who was swept awaywhen the tsunami hit in Miyagi. The book ends with a conversation between
Haru and his father in the car as the circus heads to its next location. The children Haru meets all grow psychologically, but is that because the eccentric
new boy Haru placed a spell on them, or was it a natural result from having
met him? The author leaves this point open to the reader’s imagination. Eachof the stories ends on an upbeat note, making the reader feel positive, so it isrecommended for children not generally fond of reading. (Sakuma)

11

41

一〇五度

42

Hyakugo do（105 Degrees）

Iitai koto ga arimasu!（I’ve Got Something to Say!）

Text: Sato, Madoka | Asunaro Shobo | 2017 | 256 pp. | 20 x

Text: Uozumi, Naoko | Illus. Nishimura, Tsuchika | Kaiseisha |14 cm | ISBN 978-4-7515-2873-0 | Ages 10+ | Chairs, Design,

2018 | 186 pp. | 20 x 14 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-727290-6 | Ages

Follow your path, Friendship

11+ | Mothers and daughters, Notebooks, Housework

The hero of this novel is Shin, a boy who transfers into
the final year of middle school at a combined middle/
high school in Tokyo. Shin’s father constantly checks his grades and pushes
him to follow an elite course to a famous university and top company—but
Shin really wants to build chairs, like his grandfather before him. Shin longs
to be a chair designer. One day, as Shin reads a book on chairs in the library,
he meets Lili, a girl also obsessed with chairs. As it turns out, Lili’s grandfather and Shin’s grandfather once competed with each other as chair modelers. Shin and Lili hit it off, and secretly enter a national chair competition asa team. The final summer of middle school, Shin faces discord with his father,his personal limitations, and the challenges of working in a team, even as
he follows his dream with integrity. The 105 degrees in the title refers to theideal angle of the back of a chair. This book is highly recommended to middle
schoolers just beginning to consider their paths in life. (Shirota)

43

よりみち３人修学旅行

A story that with elements of fantasy portrays what life
is like for girls in Japan. It is an entertaining read thathas you wondering about a mysterious girl that the protagonist meets. Hinako is in her last year at elementary school and irritated at being constantly
nagged by her mother to study and do housework. She feels it’s unfair that
her brother is exempted from housework, as is her father on account of being posted to a job far away. Her mother believes it’s for the best to be strict
with her, and Hinako cannot openly defy her. Thus their relationship quickly
deteriorates as Hinako harbours counterveiling feelings of rebellion andguilt. And then Hinako meets a mysterious girl, who leaves behind a notebook in which it is written, “I don’t want to be controlled by my parents. I
want to follow my own path.” Subsequently the girl turns up numerous times,
and following her advice Hinako gradually becomes able to say the things
she wants to say to her mother.
When her mother tells her off for playing hooky from the cram school,on the spur of the moment Hinako skips a mock exam and instead goes toher deceased grandmother’s old abandoned house. On the way there she
again meets the mysterious girl, and they go into the house together. They
are there talking together when Hinako’s Aunt Megumi (her mother’s sister)turns up and the mysterious girl vanishes. Her mother follows her aunt in,
and as they talk things over they solve the mystery of the mysterious girl,clarifying her true identity. Hinako and her mother become closer as a result,and they are both able to take the first steps to seeking their own paths inlife. The story depicts the difficulties between a girl in early adolescence andher mother. (Sakuma)

44

ある晴れた夏の朝

Yorimichi sannin shugaku ryoko（Three Wayward Friends on a School Trip）

Aru hareta natsu no asa（On A Bright Summer Morning）

Text: Ichikawa, Sakuko | Kodansha | 2018 | 223 pp. | 20 x 14

Text: Kodemari, Rui | Kaiseisha | 2018 | 206 pp. | 20 x 14 cm

cm | ISBN 978-4-06-220527-6 | Ages 11+ | Travel, Friendship,| ISBN 978-4-03-643200-4 | Ages 12+ | Atomic bombs, War,

Trio

United States of America

Three boys who have just graduated from elementary
school but missed going on their school trip, decide to go on a trip of theirown.
Tenma transferred schools in the middle of grade six and has few friends.
Shu, who is nicknamed “Prince” for his winning smile, and Fuchi, a short boy
who is often absent from school, invite Tenma to go on a trip to see Fuchi’s
divorced father before they start junior high school.
On the day of their departure, Tenma learns that Fuchi’s father has given
Fuchi a task to complete: He must ask ten strangers to sign Fuchi’s graduation album and take a photo with them but still reach the meeting place ontime. Fuchi manages to get the station master and a high school girl to sign
his album, but they are interrupted by a pervert. When this man tries to takethem into a public washroom, Fuchi and his friends drive him off. The trio
manage to collect signatures from another seven people, including a motherand child and another group of boys. Fuchi asks his father to be the tenthperson to sign his album, but his father refuses, saying that he does not meetthe criterion of being a stranger. He taunts Fuchi for failing to complete thetask. Tenma and Shu tearfully protest on behalf of their friend, and the trio
returns home together.
Written from Tenma’s perspective, the eventful journey and Tenma’s process of getting to know Shu and Fuchi are conveyed with a light and humorous touch, and Tenma’s frustration with the irrationality of grownups comes
across graphically. (Doi)12

いいたいことがあります！

The injustice of war is often portrayed in Japanesechildren’s literature through the experience of radiation exposure from theatomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Such accounts are written from the perspective of the victims, but things look different when seen
through the eyes of Americans. The author of this book, who lives in the U.S.A.,
examines the differences between the two sides of the argument by portraying eight American high schoolers from different areas and backgrounds
debating the rights and wrongs of dropping the atomic bombs. The students
are well prepared, making various persuasive arguments. Those who support the action, claim that had America not dropped the bombs, Japan would
not have ended the war and millions of people would have died in a landinvasion. Those against it counter that it was unnecessary as America knewthat Japan would surrender once the U.S.S.R. declared war on Japan. Also,
the fact that two different types of bombs were dropped on Hiroshima andNagasaki shows that the U.S.A. was clearly testing the bombs on humans.
Those in favor argue that at the time, everyone in Japan, from children to theelderly, had been militarized and instructed to fight to the death. Dropping
the bombs was a reasonable punishment for the Japanese army and thosein command of it for having killed over 16 million Chinese people. One girlof Chinese ancestry blasts the current political situation in Japan, saying thatthose who tragically died in the atomic bombings will never rest in peace until Japan stops playing the victim and wearing the mask of a peaceful country,
and acknowledges what actually happened and apologizes to the innocent
people of China, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia. (Nogami)

Recent Chapter Books and Novels for Ages 10 and Up
45

キズナキス

46

Kizuna kisu（Friendship Kiss）

Konpira inu（Konpira Dog）

Text: Nashiya, Arie | Seizansha | 2017 | 400 pp. | 19 x 13 cm |Text: Imai, Kyoko | Illus. Inunko | Kumon Shuppan | 2017 | 344

ISBN 978-4-86389-398-6 | Ages 12+ | IT (PCs, Smarphones),

pp. | 20 x 14 cm | ISBN 978-4-7743-2707-5 | Ages 12+ | Dogs,

School, Clubs, Recitals

Pilgrimage, Travel

This YA novel depicts a future world where information and communications technology (ICT), including smartphones and tablets, have further evolved. Against a backdrop ofcomplex peer relationships and romance, the story reveals some of the risks
these tools can entail.
The heroine, Hibiki, is in the eighth grade and a member of the school’s
brass band, which is practicing hard to win the summer district championship. The junior high school she attends is designated as a case study for an
ICT friendship project, and all the students receive an educational tablet (etab) and a mind scope. When switched on, the mind scope reads the mind of
whoever it is pointed at, displaying their thoughts in text on the monitor. The
project aims to train human resources with advanced communication skills
and compatibility, and the mind scope is intended as a communication tool.
The beautiful Hanezu Tenro, who transferred into Hibiki’s school in grade
seven but has never attended classes, suddenly begins coming to school.
Although Hanezu spends all her time in the computer room, she and Hibiki
become friends. Hibiki learns from her that the e-tabs and mind scopes arebeing used as an experiment to collect and analyze personal information andcontrol the students’ minds. One day, Hanezu suddenly embraces and kisses
Hibiki. Towards the end, we learn that Hanezu suffered from child abuse andpoverty. While the story ends on a sad note, it also warns of the potential
pitfalls of an IT society and highlights issues that are extremely pertinent forcontemporary readers. (Nogami)

47

こんぴら狗

その景色をさがして

Sono keshiki o sagashite（Looking for That Scenery）

This is an entertaining adventure novel with a dog as
the protagonist, and is also historical fiction introducing the customs and lifestyle of Japanese people in the Edo period (16031868). The dog, Mutsuki, had been abandoned, but was rescued by Yayoi,
the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and is now grown up. In this story he issent on a pilgrimage from Edo (Tokyo) to a shrine in Sanuki (today’s Kagawa
Prefecture in western Japan) dedicated to Konpira, the guardian deity of seafarers. He is being sent as the family’s representative to pray that Yayoi will
recover from illness. He sets out carrying a bag around his neck containing
a wooden slab engraved with his owner’s name and address, a monetary offering for the shrine, and enough money for buying food to last him the journey. He comes to be known as “Konpira Dog” and is looked after by travelers
and other people he crosses paths with, so eventually he completes his mission and returns home safely.
On his travels, Mutsuki keeps the company of many people of different
trades and ages, including a mendicant, a snake oil peddler, an apprenticegeisha, and a carpenter. He also has many experiences on his pilgrimage,such as falling into the river, making friends with an attractive female dog,and saving a traveling companion from bandits. His last companion on theroad is a woman who runs a kerosene wholesale business and whose young
son Muneo is blind. The boy is later given Mutsuki’s puppy, providing asatisfying conclusion to the story. The author researched the subject thoroughly to make it into a creative yet realistic story. The book won the Sankei
Children’s Publishing Award, the Association of Japanese Children’s Authors
Award, and the Shogakukan Children’s Book Award. (Sakuma)

48

地図を広げてChizu o hirogete（Spreading Out the Map）

Text: Nakayama, Seiko | PHP Institute | 2018 | 175 pp. | 20
x 14 cm | ISBN 978-4-569-78749-7 | Ages 12+ | Mothers,

Text: Iwase, Joko | Kaiseisha | 2018 | 246 pp. | 20 x 14 cm |Death, FriendshipISBN 978-4-03-613180-9 | Ages 12+ | Family, Divorce, Death

This is the story of Toko, an insecure teenager, andhow she comes to terms with her mother’s past.
Thirteen-year-old Toko has been living with her grandparents since hermother, a novelist, died half a year ago. She struggles with complex emotions:grief over the loss of her mother and remorse over some terrible things she
said to her, envy of her friend whose artistic talent is blossoming, and turmoil
over suddenly being contacted by her father who divorced Toko’s mother.
Chihiro, a pediatrician and Toko’s aunt, is concerned about Toko. One day,
Toko confides that she is angry with both her parents for making her suffer
like this. “I can’t help thinking,” she says, “that the only reason they could be
so selfish is because they never really loved me.” Chihiro tells Toko that thereason she became a doctor was because she had mixed feelings about her
own family. She also tells her that Toko’s mother was bullied in junior highschool.
After she became ill, Toko’s mother mentioned her desire to visit a certain
place once again. Toko decides to find out where that is. She finds a postcard
that her mother treasured and writes to the person who sent it. Through this,she learns that this person lives very near the place her mother wanted to
go and decides to visit her. Toko learns many things about her mother fromthis friend. Alone, Toko visits the place her mother wanted to see. There shefinds wisteria laden with blossoms. Now she understands where her namecomes from: Toko means “wisteria child.” This scene provides a beautiful anddramatic conclusion to the tale. The family’s grief touches the reader’s heart
precisely because neither Toko’s mother nor her death are romanticized. (Doi)This story of adolescence focuses on the awkwardnessof reuniting as a family after four years of living apartand the process of overcoming it.
Twelve-year-old Suzu has been living with her father since he and hermother divorced four years ago. When Suzu’s mother suddenly dies, however, Suzu and her father must welcome Kei, Suzu’s eight-year-old brother, backinto the family after an absence of four years. The story begins with Suzu
waiting for her father to bring Kei home. Kei is quiet and polite, but he wants
to spend every weekend at their grandmother’s on his mother’s side. He gets
his father to buy him a map of the neighborhood and starts disappearing on
his bicycle every day. Worried about him, Suzu follows along. She also begins spending the weekends at their grandmother’s. By doing so, she learns
that Kei has been visiting the neighborhood they used to live in before theirparents divorced, searching for people who might remember him, recording
all these places on his map, and looking at photos on his mother’s cellphonewhich their grandmother has kept.
The book’s 24 chapters cover the period from mid-May to the end of June.
Suzu’s memories, which have been awakened by her mother’s death and Kei’s
addition to her family, are inserted throughout, carrying the reader along.
Suzu’s father, a newspaper reporter, likes to photograph rivers, and a river
runs through the town where they live. The image of characters crossing
the top of the dam recurs throughout the tale, symbolizing Suzu’s feelingsof anxiety and release. Unique supporting characters, such as her father’s
former classmate Makiko, Suzu’s only friend Tsukita, and her mother’s highschool friend, contribute to Suzu’s deepening understanding. (Doi)

13

49

ドリーム ・プロジェクト

50

Dorimu purojekuto（Dream Project）

Rika junbishitsu no binasu（The Venus of the Science Lab）

Text: Hamano, Kyoko | PHP Institute | 2018 | 205 pp. | 20 x

Text: Tomori, Shiruko | Kodansha | 2017 | 206 pp. | 20 x 14 cm

14 cm | ISBN 978-4-569-78777-0 | Ages 12+ | Crowdfunding,| ISBN 978-4-06-220634-1 | Ages 12+ | Aspirations, Teachers,

Internet, Friendship

SchoolTakuma is in the second year at junior high. His grandfather Isamu has been living with him since losing his
wife. Isamu is now 80, and when he leaves the house one day without saying
anything, the family are worried about him. When they investigate, they discover that he has gone to the village in the mountains where he used to live.
Realizing that Isamu is missing the village and his old house, which now lies
empty, Takuma hits upon the idea of renovating the old wooden thatchedhouse and making it into a center where local people can gather. He gains
the support of some of his friends at school, and pooling their knowledge,
they work together to set up a project to raise the necessary money througha crowdfunding campaign. They go to a crowdfunding company to explain
their project, learn about the procedures, receive advice, and then decide to
go ahead with the project.
Takuma and his friends don’t just make the crowdfunding page, they work
hard on the project doing things like making flyers to hand out at bus stops
in the morning, spreading information via Twitter and Facebook, showing
supporters from the city around, going to meet the former mayor who is alocal figure of authority, and so forth. They need to get a lot of people tosupport them in order to meet their target of 1.6 million yen. Will they manage to raise the funds in the end? This entertaining and exciting read also
deepens knowledge of the procedures of crowdfunding and how to participate in society. (Sakuma)

51

わたしが少女型ロボットだったころ

Hitomi Yuuki is in the first year at junior high. She lives
with her mother, and she hardly ever sees her father
since her parents divorced. She feels alienated at school. After she is tripped
up in the classroom and falls, she goes to the sickroom for first aid treatment
and has a conversation with the science teacher Ms. Hitomi, who happens tobe there at the time. She develops a crush on the young teacher, whose surname Hitomi sounds like her own first name. Ms. Hitomi often spends time
when she doesn’t have classes in the #2 Science Lab, and her face resembles
Botticelli’s Venus. She is thirty-one, considerably older than student Hitomi,
and is a single mother with a young child. She openly flouts school rules,
eating sweets in front of her pupils, and to Hitomi she is the most beautiful,kindest, and also the most dangerous person she has ever known.
One day, Hitomi notices another boy, Masaki, staring at Ms. Hitomi. Masaki
and Hitomi start spending all their time in #2 Science Lab, and both desire
the teacher in slightly different ways. Nevertheless, both of them feel that she
is a special, unique, and irreplaceable person in their lives. The three-way relationship between the two pupils, boy and girl, and their teacher maintains adelicate and complex balance. In the end it breaks down, but by then Hitomi
has begun to think of Masaki, who is eccentric and tends to take chances, asa kindred spirit. “He was necessary in order to get close to something out ofreach,” she thought.
Nothing dramatic happens in this book, but it wonderfully portrays thefluctuating emotions of children in early adolescence being consumed bylonging. (Sakuma)

52

キジムナー Kids

Watashi ga shojogata robotto datta koro
（When I was a Shojo Robbot）

Kijimuna kizzu（Kijimuna Kids）

Text: Ishikawa, Hirochika | Kaiseisha | 2018 | 252 pp. | 20 x 14

Text: Uehara, Shozo | Gendai Shokan | 2017 | 360 pp. | 20 x

cm | ISBN 978-4-03-727280-7 | Ages 12+ | Robots, Friendship,

14 cm | ISBN 978-4-7684-5804-4 | Ages 13+ | Okinawa, War,

Eating disorders, Parent-child relationships

FriendshipThis novel’s title suggests that it is science fiction, but
it is not. It is the story of a sensitive girl racing headlong through adolescence, her body and spirit flagging. Together with a boy who encourages
her, she somehow renews her strength and finds her mark, ultimately finding
herself.
The heroine is Tazuru, a girl in her final year of middle school. Tazuru’s
mother, a freelance lifestyle designer, is in a relationship with a female former colleague some twelve years her junior. Tazuru assumes that her motherwants someone to live with because she is lonely being single, and has asfamily only her own mother, to whom she is not close. But Tazuru worries
that she and her mother will no longer share secrets between just the two ofthem, as they used to. Somehow Tazuru becomes unable to eat the breakfast
her mother makes, and then she recalls that she is a robot. She is Shojo Robot TA-ZOO—and if she is a robot, she can live without eating.
A boy from her homeroom class two years ago, who has always looked out
for her, is shocked at Tazuru’s sudden weight loss. When she confides to himthat she is a robot, he does not balk but accepts this straightforwardly. He
then tries everything he can think of to convince Tazuru that if she is a skillfully made, human-like robot, she must also eat like humans or she will die.
Deeply worried, he stays close to this girl whose anxiety brought an eating
disorder he scarcely understands. Tazuru’s interaction with this caring boy
draws readers far into the story, even as its subject matter keeps them ontenterhooks. A novel with a grave theme that also tells a tender love story.
(Nogami)14

理科準備室のヴィーナス

This young adult novel, which was awarded the Tsubota Joji Award in Japan, depicts the lives of five boys in Okinawa just afterWorld War II. Mitsu, a boy of about eleven whose nickname is Hanah, returns
to Okinawa after being evacuated during the war. He joins up with four others: Habujiro, who makes a living dismantling artillery shells and is nicknamed
for his grandfather, a catcher of habu vipers; Popo, who has a special talent
for farting and lost one hand during the air raids; Behgua, a boy who lost his
parents in a mass suicide, makes his home in a goat shed and can only speak
like a goat; and Sandeh, whose mother is involved with an American officer.
The five boys make a hideout in a Banyan tree and spend their time playing
and stealing food. Okinawans believe that Banyan trees are inhabited by mischievous wood sprites known as Kijimuna, hence the title of the book.
The tale begins with Hanah and his friends trying to swipe food from
American soldiers who are hanging out with some Japanese women on thebeach. The soldiers discover the boys and threaten them with their pistols,
taking away their clothes. The book goes on to chronicle the boys’ daily lives,
including their encounter with a Japanese deserter who collects the bones ofthe dead, and their interactions with an entertainer who begins living in theboys’ hideout and who dresses them up as Kijimuna and takes them to funerals. Through these events, the background of each boy is gradually revealed.
The book relates real events in the life of the author, who is a well-known
writer of screenplays for popular Japanese superhero shows. The characters
vividly convey the feelings of Okinawans, including their ability to see humor
even in the darkest times and their respect for life. (Doi)Recent Nonfiction for Ages 3 and Up

RecentNonfiction

53

54にゅうどうぐも

もりのほうせき ねんきん

Text/Illus. Nosaka, Yusaku | Spv. Nemoto, Junkichi |Text/Photos: Arai, Fumihiko | Poplar | 2018 | 35 pp. | 21

Fukuinkan Shoten | 2018 | 28 pp. | 26 x 24 cm | ISBN 978-x 27 cm | ISBN 978-4-591-15866-1 | Ages 5+ | Forest,

4-8340-8399-6 | Ages 3+ | Clouds, Rain, Brothers

Gems, Transformation

Masaru and Makoto are brothers. One summer
morning, under a grey sky, they do their calisthenics. As fleecy clouds gather, they hunt for cicadas.
In the afternoon, while they are home alone, theclouds swiftly puff up into cumulonimbus clouds—
thunderheads. Lightning flashes, thunder rumbles,
and then a hard rain fails. By the time Grandma
and Mom come back from shopping, the rain has
stopped, and there’s a rainbow. The changes tothe sky are easy to follow in this picture book withspine on top. The characters in the story appear
as silhouettes, which lets the reader focus on thesky’s transformations. The descriptions of rain andthunder are also beautiful. (Doi)The kanji for slime mold identifies it as “sticky fungus.” But this fungus is not related to mushrooms.
It is one of the amoebas that live beneath dark,
damp ground and in rotting trees. It also changes
shape several times during its life. It is very small
so is easily missed, but close observation of a fallen tree trunk or the ground will reveal all kinds ofslime molds of various shapes and colors that are
as beautiful as gems. Some are like glass petals,
others are like coral beads. Slime mold not only
steadily changes its color and form as it grows, but
it moves, too. This breathtakingly beautiful ecology photo picture book depicts these mysterious
life forms in brilliant color. (Nogami)

Nyudo gumo（Cumulonimbus）

55

56

Nenkin（Forest Gems: Slime Mold）

57

きのこレストラン

ごはんはおいしい

巣箱の中で

Text/Photos: Shinkai, Takashi | Poplar | 2018 | 35 pp. |Text: Park Kyong-Mi | Photos: Suzuki, Risaku | Fukuinkan

Text/Illus. Suzuki, Mamoru | Akane Shobo | 2018 | 32 pp.

21 x 27 cm | ISBN 978-4-591-15975-0 | Ages 5+ | Mush-

Shoten | 2017 | 80 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-8340-| 27 x 19 cm | ISBN 978-4-251-09914-3 | Ages 6+ | Birds,

rooms, Restaurants, Meals, Fungus beetle

8368-2 | Ages 5+ | Rice, Food, Seasons

Nests, LifeIn June, the bright red parasols of a species of agaric, dubbed “egg mushrooms,” appear in the park
woods. A close look reveals small spores emerging
from between the gills on the underside of theparasols. As the spores emerge, bugs gather andchomp away at the soft gills. Five days later, having
discharged all their spores, the egg mushrooms
begin to rot. Then it’s the turn of another type ofbug, which loves rotten mushrooms. The mushrooms are a restaurant for the bugs. The vivid, realistic photos in this picture book introduce all thevarious bugs, including fungus beetles, that eat
mushrooms. (Shirota)

The rice we eat is grain after grain grown on a rice
plant, which itself grows in a rice paddy. This photopicture book lyrically narrated by a grandmother,tells the story of how rice reaches us. Just as rice isa staple of Japanese food, rice fields are a featureof Japan’s landscape. Written by a poet, the text
and photos in this book reveal spread after spreadthat can be savored like a meal. The combinationof poetic language, photos, and white space not
only yields knowledge, but also causes us to smell
steam and even feel the breeze through the paddies. (Hiromatsu)

Normally, we cannot see what goes on in a birdhouse. The author, who has published many bookson the shape of birds’ nests in different parts of
the world, built a birdhouse against the window of
his room, allowing him to carefully observe the behavior of Oriental tits from the time they laid theireggs until the chicks fledged. On the fourteenth
day after the mother had finished laying her eggs
in his birdhouse, the author saw eight chicks inside. He sketched their growth in fine detail overthe next twenty days until they left the nest. Theselovely illustrations grace the pages of this picturebook which presents a stunning portrayal of amother and a father bird protecting and nurturing
their young, and of the mystery of life. (Nogami)

Kinoko resutoran（The Mushroom Restaurant）

Gohan wa oishii（How Come We Call Rice “Gohan,” Grandma?）

Subako no naka de（In the Birdhouse）

15

58

59

どこにいるかな ? のやまのむしたち

まなぶ

もぐらはすごいText/Photos: Yasuda, Mamoru | Iwasaki Shoten | 2017 |Text/Photos: Nagakura, Hiromi | Alice-kan | 2018 | 40 pp.

Text/Illus. Ayai, Akiko | Spv. Shinichiro, Kawada | Alice-

32 pp. | 29 x 25 cm | ISBN 978-4-265-08581-1 | Ages 6+ || 26 x 20 cm | ISBN 978-4-7520-0843-9 | Ages 6+ | Study,kan | 2018 | 32 pp. | 25 x 23 cm | ISBN 978-4-7520-0837-

Insects, Mimicry, Hide-and-seek, Nature observation

School, Culture

8 | Ages 6+ | Moles, Animal habitats, Underground

This is a science picture book that introduces
through a series of photos the amazing ways
in which bugs mimic their surroundings to hide
amidst leaves, tree branches, and on the ground,and challenges the reader to find the insect hiddenin each photo. All of the photos were taken by theauthor in the district of Inadani in Nagano Prefecture, and are of the flora and fauna of the natural
woodlands around villages. Readers can really geta feel for observing the outdoors through thesephotos and will marvel at the ability of the insects
to hide themselves. Some are particularly hard todiscern, like a moth that mimics dried leaves anda caterpillar that looks just like bird droppings. At
the end of the book there is a simple quiz alongwith answers. (Shirota)

This photo picture book includes striking photosof children and young adults from Japan, Cuba,
Afghanistan, Micronesia, Angora, Uzbekistan, Sri
Lanka, Cambodia and other places around theworld as they learn, both at school and at home,on the high plains and while travelling. Throughthem we can see what it means to learn, how theworld opens up when we learn, what we inherit
when we learn, and how learning is linked topeace. It is hard to forget the serious faces of thechildren, and their smiling faces as they look to the
future. The same photo book series includes thetitles Working and Praying (published 2017).
(Sakuma)Moles spend almost their whole lives underground, so many people have never seen one. Butother than in Hokkaido, eight species of moles live
all around Japan. In forests and woods, fields andpaddies, parks and schoolyards—if people findsome dirt built up, it’s likely there’s a mole nearby.
This book demystifies moles, including their bodies and their habitats. Learn all about how moles’
paws are suited to building, and how their fur, tails,
and ears are suited to tunneling. Read about howeven in pitch darkness, moles can live on insects
and earthworms and sense danger using theirEimer’s organs. The illustrations present moleswith detail and warmth. (Shirota)

Noyama no mushi tachi（Bugs in the Wild）

61

Manabu（Learning）

62

Mogura wa sugoi（Moles are Amazing）

63

すごいぞ！ ニッポン美術

虫のしわざ探偵団

Text: Yuki, Masako | Nishimura Shoten | 2017 | 58 pp. | 25

Te x t / P h o t o s : S h i n k a i , Ta k a s h i | S h o n e n S h a s h i n

x 25 cm | ISBN 978-4-89013-987-3 | Ages 7+ | Japanese

Shimbunsha | 2018 | 48 pp. | 19 x 26 cm | ISBN 978-4-

Text/Illus. Sugiyama, Kanayo | Kaiseisha | 2018 | 32 pp. |art, Art appreciation

87981-636-8 | Ages 8+ | Insects, Leaves, Observation

24 x 29 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-437200-5 | Ages 8+ | Letters

A Venus from 4,000 years ago. A husband-andwife spat from last millennium. A 12th-century
animal manga (emaki scroll) and a print of an Edoperiod idol (ukiyoe). With unique cutouts, this bookoffers a fascinating and accessible introduction to
Japan’s classical art. Because contemporary Japanese often admire western art, books providing
Japanese art education are few. This book invites
us to reexamine Japanese artwork and through it
to treasure the seasons, cherish even small formsof life, and open our ears to nature. It also contains a chronological index at the back, a museum
guide, and a key to Japan’s traditional seasonalcolors. (Hiromatsu)

Living surrounded by orchards and trees, theauthor notices that the leaves near his house haveholes in them, and the walls have patches of dried
mud. “Whose doing is this?” he wonders, and his
detective work begins. In this photo picture book,he discovers that the culprit nibbling the edges ofkudzu leaves is a tiny jewel beetle. The one making
a series of white lines on bamboo leaves is a spiky
leaf beetle, who scratches the lines as it walks
along and eats. According to each insect’s way oflife, the leaves are eaten differently. This helps theauthor realize that a wide variety of insects live all
around him. The book has detailed photos as wellas introductions of tools for observing nature. It
makes the reader want to examine nature too. (Doi)Even today when most people send text messages,
it’s still fun to receive a card or letter. This bookuses colorful, humorous illustrations to introduce
great ideas that will inspire the reader to maketheir own stationery and send letters. How about
letter paper that is not only shaped like, but also
smells like, cookies or chocolate bars? Or a letterthat turns into a pop-up slice of watermelon whenfolded and placed on a plate? From the perfect
thank-you card to stationery that will delight lovers of baseball, animals, or fashion, the ingenious
designs satisf y dif ferent t ypes of people andneeds, and each comes complete with a pattern
and illustrated instructions. This is the third bookin the series “Omoshiroi! Tanoshii! Ureshii! Tegami”(Letter Writing Is Fun!). (Nogami)

Sugoizo! Nippon bijutsu（Wonderful World of Japanese Art）

16

60

Mushi no shiwaza tanteidan（Insect Detectives）

もらってうれしい手紙を手づくりしよう！

Moratte ureshii tegami o tezukuri shiyo!
（Let’s Make Joy-Giving Letters!”）

Recent Nonfiction for Ages 6 and Up
64

65

66

昆虫の体重測定「牛が消えた村」 で種をまく”Ushi ga kieta mura” de tane o maku（Planting
Seeds in ‘The Village Whose Cows Disappeared’）

Kochira mushimushi shinbunsha（The Bug Examiner: Where are All the Snails?）

Text/Illus. Yoshitani, Akinori | Fukuinkan Shoten | 2018 |Text/Photos: Toyoda, Naomi | Rural Culture Association

Text/Illus. Miwa, Kazuo | Kaiseisha | 2018 | 40 pp. | 26

40 pp. | 26 x 20 cm | ISBN 978-4-8340-8409-2 | Ages 8+| 2018 | 32 pp. | 21 x 26 cm | ISBN 978-4-540-17187-1 |x 20 cm | ISBN 978-4-03-437260-9 | Ages 8+ | Insects,| Insects, Weight, Observation

Ages 8+ | 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Farming

Snails, Newspapers, Ecosystems

The author of this science picture book uses anelectronic scale to measure a ladybug’s weight: .05
grams, about the same as a postage stamp. Next,
he weighs a striped mosquito, a rhinoceros beetle, a stag beetle, a butterfly, and a moth, getting
totally wrapped up in checking insects’ weights.
After that, he investigates whether the weight of aladybug varies by individual bug, and whether theweight of a butterfly varies by type of butterfly,
and why? And which weighs more, the beetle larva
or the full-grown beetle? While checking bugs’
weights, processes for investigating their ecosystems are intriguingly introduced. Realistic pen,watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations abundantly convey the charms of insects. (Doi)In the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture—
where the Great East Japan Earthquake set off
a crisis at a nuclear power plant—radioactive
particles poured into the air. Dairy farmer Kenichi
Hasegawa had no choice but to send all his cows
to the slaughterhouse; his three-generation family
scattered to temporary shelters. Not wanting his
town to fall to ruin, however, Hasegawa returned
to plant buckwheat seed and mow grass with his
fellow villagers, known for their careful and warmhearted madei na ways. One photo in this book, ofthe removed, radioactive soil—said to fill 2.3 million bags in Iitate alone—makes one feel the horror of radiation. This is the third in a series called
Nonetheless, It’s My Home. (Doi)Insect reporters working at the Bug Bug Daily
News company receive a letter from a girl in grade
two. Snails, she writes, seem to have disappeared
from the city, and she asks the newspaper to investigate why. Sent out by the department chief,a ladybug reporter gradually uncovers many extraordinary facts about snails. For example, snails
are disappearing because the city has taken overtheir habitat of earth and trees. In addition, manyother creatures eat snails or use their empty shells.
This is an excellent illustrated science book witheasy-to-understand explanations of the food chain
and interesting facts about the ecosystem presented by the ladybug reporter. (Nogami)

Konchu no taiju sokutei（How Much Do Insects Weigh?）

67

68

こちらムシムシ新聞社 ―カタツムリはどこにいる ?

69

円谷英二

季節のごちそう ハチごはん

岡本太郎 ―芸術という生き方

Text: Taguchi, Shigemitsu | Akane Shobo | 2018 | 144 pp.

Text/Photos: Yokotsuka, Makoto | Holp Shuppan | 2018 |Text: Hirano, Akiomi | Akane Shobo | 2018 | 151 pp. | 22

| 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-251-04614-7 | Ages 8+ | Mov-

41 pp. | 26 x 20 cm | ISBN 978-4-593-56337-1 | Ages 8+ |x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-251-04611-6 | Ages 10+ | Painters,

ies, Monsters, Science fiction, Biography

Insects, Food, Nature

Biography, Art

This engaging biography depicts the life of Eiji
Tsuburaya, co-creator of the Godzilla series, who
was revered in the movie world as a special-effects
maestro. When he saw his first movie as a boy, he
was enthralled and remodeled a lantern slide projector to create his own animations. Although he
had to give up his dream of becoming a pilot, he
was discovered by a movie director and hired as a
motion picture cameraman. He exhibited extraordinary talent and inventiveness. After the successof Godzilla, he developed many monsters and heroes for science fiction movies and TV series, enchanting not only children but movie fans aroundthe world. (Nogami)

Certain parts of Japan have a custom of eating thelarvae and pupae of predatory wasps. The author
photographically documents this custom. In early
July, digger wasps are fed bait with a marker thatallows people to track them. The hive is dug up
from the ground and transferred to a wooden
hive. The wasps inside are fed with food and sugarwater until the nest is ten times bigger. Aroundthe end of October, the nest is taken out of thewooden hive, and the larvae and pupae are removed with tweezers. These are then stewed in asweet sauce. This photo picture book serves as aprecious record for the contemporary audience ofa traditional food culture that is slowly dying out.
(Nogami)A biography of well-known Japanese artist Taro
Okamoto (1911-1996), whose works include theTower of the Sun built for the 1970 World Expo
in Osaka, and the Myth of Tomorrow mural displayed in Shibuya station, Tokyo. This book traces
Okamoto’s isolated childhood as the son of a freewheeling writer mother and manga artist father,followed by encounters in Paris at age 18 with theworks of Picasso, abstract art, and ethnology. The
book also describes Okamoto’s return to Japan,
his grueling experience of life as a soldier, and his
efforts after World War II to disrupt fixed attitudes
about traditions and art, and to pursue art’s true
meaning. Extensive back-matter includes profilesof connected people, photographs of Okamotoand his works, a timeline, and a museum guide.
(Doi)

Tsuburaya Eiji（Eiji Tsuburaya, Movie Director）

Hachi gohan（A Seasonal Delicacy: Wasp Larvae）

Okamoto Taro（Taro Okamoto: Art as a Way of Life）

17

70

71

髪がつなぐ物語

コーヒー豆を追いかけて

Kohimame o oikakete（Chasing Coffee Beans）

Kobayashi-sensei ni manabu dobutsu kodogaku（Professor Kobayashi Teaches Animal Behavior）

Text: Besshi, Yoshiko | Bunken Shuppan | 2017 | 160 pp. |Text: Harada, Kazuhiro | Illus. Nagaoka, Etsuko | Kumon

Text: Kobayashi, Tomomichi | Shonen Shashin Shimbun-

22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-580-82315-0 | Ages 10+ | Hair,

Shuppan | 2018 | 112 pp. | 22x16 cm | ISBN 978-4-7743-

sha | 2018 | 144 pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-87981-

Donating, Illness

2696-2 | Ages 10+ | Coffee, Rainforest, Environment

641-2 | Ages 10+ | Animal behavior, Experiments

Miku, a girl about ten years of age, learns of aprogram to donate hair for wigs given to children
who went bald due to illness. Miku researches the
program and ultimately decides to donate her hair.
Her research leads her to stories—about children
who received wigs, teenagers’ effort that led a wig
company to collaborate, and even a boy who grew
his hair long despite being teased. “We all hopethat one day, the world won’t need wigs anymore.”
These words, spoken by a beautician who leads
the program, spur readers to think about discrimination based on appearance. (Doi)Coffee beans are cultivated widely in the tropics
and subtropics, and then exported around theworld. In addition to coffee for drinking, the beans
are used in many products. The much travelledauthor of this book has studied tropical forests inwhich coffee beans are grown, and observed thelives of the people there. Here, in judicious photos
and diagrams, she presents what she has learnedin her research. The first half of the book describes
the history of the coffee bean, its varieties, growing practices, and consumption. The second halfshows what happens when forest is destroyed inorder to make coffee bean plantations. A range ofills including environmental loss and poverty are
revealed and discussed. (Shirota)

This book’s author, an animal behaviorist, uses
experiments and observations with well-known
animals to consider, “Why do they act that way?”
Fifteen episodes unfold, in which (for example)
a baby chipmunk instinctively makes threatening sounds when an enemy draws near. A toadrecognizes a snake. The life cycle of the horsehair
worm—a parasite of the praying mantis—unfolds.
We even see why humans might get morning sickness during pregnancy. The last section uses Professor Kobayashi’s main research area, chipmunk
ecosystems, to define ethology in simple terms.
The fun of using the scientific method comesthrough clearly in this book. (Doi)

Kami ga tsunagu monogatari（Hair Stories）

73

74

鳥獣戯画を読みとく

Chojugiga o yomitoku（Look Inside the 12thCentury Scrolls of Frolicking Animals）

18

72

小林先生に学ぶ 動物行動学

75

デニムさん

気仙沼 ・ オイカワデニムが作る復興のジーンズ

Denimu san（Ms. Denim: The Jeans Produced by
Oikawa Denim as a Symbol of Recovery）

和紙と文具

Washi to bungu（Japanese Paper and Stationery）

Spv. Gomi, Fumihiko | Iwasaki Shoten | 2017 | 64 pp. | 29

Text: Imazeki, Nobuko | Kosei Shuppansha | 2018 | 128

Ed. Dento Kogei no Kihon Henshu-shitsu | Rironsha |x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-265-08446-3 | Ages 10+ | Scrolls of

pp. | 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-333-02780-4 | Ages 10+ |2018 | 39 pp. | 31 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-652-20231-9 |Frolicking Animals, Emaki scrolls, Japanese culture

Earthquake recovery, Women, Apparel

Ages 10+ | Paper, Traditional handicraft, Stationery

The Choju Giga (Scrolls of Frolicking Animals) werecreated more than 800 years ago at the end ofJapan’s Heian period. A set of four, the scrolls areamong the oldest extant emaki (picture scrolls)
and are designated a Japanese National Treasure.
This book, while introducing the scrolls’ origins
and content, entertains readers by pointing out
their features—from how frogs and rabbits enjoy
sumo and a festival in the first scroll, to how silly
humans appear in the last scroll, almost like a gag
manga. What a delightful way to initiate admirersof the scrolls, young and old! (Shirota)

The city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, sustained devastating loss in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, as well as the terrible
fire that followed. This book depicts the disasterand recovery through the eyes of a woman, Hideko Oikawa. Just when she had managed to get herjeans manufacturing business on course after losing her husband and going through a recession,
the quake struck. She lost her warehouse and herhouse in the subsequent tsunami. Oikawa turned
her factory into an evacuation site and became aleader in the recovery effort. Her new ideas andthe resilience of Tohoku people have made Oikawa
Denim an internationally respected brand.
(Sakuma)Part of a series that introduces traditional crafts
recognized by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry. Regarding paper, this book depictsin photo and text the process for making handmade washi, in great detail. The book also defineswashi, describes its types, and introduces washi
from the different regions of Japan. For traditional
stationery, the book introduces sumi ink, the inkstone, the brush, the abacus, and other items. A
section entitled, ‘Production Challenges and New
Initiatives: Washi and Stationery News,’ covers efforts to train successive masters of the crafts anddevelop new products. The four prior books in thisfive-volume series are: 1 Pottery, 2 Lacquerware, 3
Woodworking and Metalworking, 4 Textiles. (Doi)Recent Nonfiction for Ages 6 and Up
76

77

78

フェルムはまほうつかい

文様えほん

しあわせの牛乳

Text/illus. Sugiyama, Kanayo | Original work: Hatakey-

Text/Illus. Taniyama, Ayako | Asunaro Shobo | 2017 | 48

Text: Sato,Kei | Photos: Yasuda, Natsuki | Poplar | 2018

ama, Shigeatsu | Shogakukan | 2018 | 32 pp. | 27 x 19 cm

pp. | 21 x 22 cm | ISBN 978-4-7515-2828-0 | Ages 10+ || 175 pp. | 20 x 14 cm | ISBN 978-4-591-15813-5 | Ages

| ISBN 978-4-09-726791-1 | Ages 10+ | Iron, Sea, Forest

Patterns, Motifs, Japanese tradition

11+ | Ranching, Milk, Animal welfare

Hatakeyama farms oysters and scallops in Kesennuma Bay in Miyagi prefecture. Since learning in
1989 that fluvic iron, which is produced by forests and wetlands, is a vital factor in the growthof plankton and seaweed, he has been involvedin tree planting. The motto for his movement is,“The forest is the sea’s true love.” For this picture
book, Hatakeyama has teamed up with Sugiyama,
who collaborated with him on previous works forchildren. Sugiyama created the character Ferme
who uses everyday language to explain the powers concealed in iron, including its vital role inthe birth of life, the growth of plants, the production of oxygen, and the distribution of nutrients
throughout the body. Ferme means “iron” in Latin.
(Nogami)Patterns are the designs created to decorate
clothes, articles in daily use, buildings, and soforth. In Japan, spatulas, bamboo sticks, shells,
and nails have all been used to pattern pots andfigurines since the Jomon period, and these days
ramen bowls and clothes too. This book not only
introduces Japanese patterns using various motifs
of plants, animals, celestial bodies and nature, andgeometrical patterns combining lines and figures,but it also includes a map to show differences withother patterns around the world and how somepatterns of one region have spread to others.
Along with illustrations, the book also includes a
glossary of terms and useful information for readers to enjoy learning about the patterns. (Sakuma)

Japan’s first dair y farm to be animal welfarecertified is Nakahora Farm in Iwate Prefecture. This
book tells of Mr. Nakahora’s struggles to reach thispoint. In his dairy operation, cows are let out topasture year-round. They eat pesticide-free wild
grasses, birth their calves naturally, and live in harmony with the mountains and the woods. People
receive the milk left over from nursing their calves.
In an age when “modern” methods call for sacrificing cows’ health to raise efficiency, Mr. Nakahora
believes that “even if we cannot drink milk every
day, it is better to receive rich, tasty milk fromcows living happy lives. That makes everyone happy!” The way he lives out his ideals is very moving.
(Sakuma)Ferumu wa maho tsukai（Ferme Is A Wizard）

79

Mon-yo ehon（The Pattern Picture Book）

80

世界を救うパンの缶詰

Sekai o sukuu pan no kanzume（Saving the World With Canned Bread）

Shiawase no gyunyu（Milk of Happiness）

81

ようこそ、 難民！

100 万人の難民がやってきたドイツで起こったこと

Yokoso, nanmin!（Refugees, Welcome!: When aMillion Refugees Arrived in Germany）

核兵器はなくせる

Kaku heiki wa nakuseru（We Can Rid the World of Nuclear Weapons）

Text: Suga, Seiko | Illus. Yamashita, Kohei | Holp Shuppan

Text: Imaizumi, Mineko | Godo Shuppan | 2018 | 176 pp.

Text: Kawasaki, Akira | Iwanami Shoten | 2018 | 208 pp. || 2017 | 156 pp. | 20 x 15 cm | ISBN 978-4-593-53523-1 || 22 x 16 cm | ISBN 978-4-7726-1339-2 | Ages 11+ | Refu-

18 x 11 cm | ISBN 978-4-00-500880-3 | Ages 13+ | Nu-

Ages 11+ | Bread, Canned food, Artisans, Dreams

gees, Germany, Multicultural society

clear weapons, Peace movement, Nobel Prize

This book is about a baker called Yoshihiko Akimoto. When the Kobe earthquake happened in
1995 and there was a need for nonperishable food,
Mr. Akimoto hit upon the idea of canning breadthat it would be soft enough for children and theelderly to eat. After trying many techniques andimprovements, and much trial and error, he finallysucceeded. Next Mr. Akimoto decided to recall
unused canned bread that was approaching its expiry date, and send it to disaster and famine areas
around the world through NGOs. This is a moving
book about how one artisan dreamed of building
a business that would benefit not just his local
area but the world at large, and took the necessary
steps to make his dream come true. (Sakuma)

This book is not non-fiction in the strictest sense,but much of it is real, which is why it is included
here. The author, a Japanese woman in Freiburg,
discusses refugees. What sort of people are refugees and why did they have to flee their countries?
Why did Germany recently accept so many refugees? What actions were taken by German people
against them? Why can’t reality be sustained byemotions and ideals alone? What misunderstandings arose from cultural differences? What are
the differences between the various adherentsof Islam, and what was done to help the refugees
learn German? She tackles the issue from various
perspectives, giving readers the opportunity tothink for themselves. (Sakuma)

The author, Akira Kawasaki, belongs to the steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017
Nobel Peace Prize. In five chapters, Kawasaki
covers such topics as his motivation for becoming
involved, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons, and the reasons Japan has not joined
the treaty. The first chapter charts how Kawasaki
became passionately involved in peace activities.
In subsequent chapters, he explains the global
problem of nuclear weapons, introduces the activities of ICAN, shows the irrationality of Japan’srefusal to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons, and looks at the future of ICAN
activities. The book closes with a plea for peace tothe readers. (Doi)19

The Hans Christian Andersen Award
Mado, Michio 1909-2014
1994 Author Award

Winners

Akaba, Suekichi 1910-1990
1980 Illustrator Award
Born in Tokyo, Suekichi Akaba emigrated to Manchuria at the age of 21.
He worked in industry and began topaint while still there. He was awarded
special recognition three times at
the Manchurian National Art Exhibition. After returning to Japan at theage of 36, Akaba mastered painting
techniques on his own; he publishedhis first picture book in 1961. His influences include traditional Japanesepainting and Felix Hoffmann.

Anno, Mitsumasa 19261984 Illustrator Award
Born in Tsuwano, a village located in avalley surrounded by mountains, Mitsumasa Anno developed a strong desire to experience places beyond thosemountains while growing up. This isreflected in his books. He taught art
in elementary school for ten years;
his first two picture books reflect his
love of playing with visual perception,and his drawings, often compared toEscher, not only abound with visual
trickery and illusions but also display aplayful sense of humour.

20

Michio Mado was born in Tokuyama.
When he was a small child, his family left for Taiwan, leaving him behindwith his grandfather. He began to write
poetry at the age of 19. In 1934, two of
his poems were recognized by Kitahara
Hakushu, the most respected poet of
the time. This marked the beginning of
Mado’s career as a creator of nursery
rhymes, songs and poems for children.
The Animals , co-published in the USA
and Japan as a bilingual book , wastranslated by Empress Michiko of Japan.

Uehashi, Nahoko 19622014 Author Award
Born in Tok yo, Nahoko Uehashi researched indigenous people in Australia
for her PhD in cultural authoropology. Her literary debut came in 1989,
when her first book won an award thatbrought her into the spotlight. In 1996,
she began to write her historical fantasy
series Moribito (Guardian), which became a huge hit and received several literature awards in and outside of Japan,
including the IBBY Honour List and the
Batchelder Award in the USA. Her series
The Beast Player is now out in the USA
and the UK.

Kadono, Eiko 19352018 Author Award
Born in Tokyo, Eiko Kadono moved toBrazil for two years when she was 25,
and based on her experiences there she
wrote her first book. Since then she has
written many books for children of several generations. Her chapter book Majo
no takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service),
written in 1984, won a number of prizes
and was included on the IBBY Honour
List. This story was adapted into a wildly
popular animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. Kadono has been decorated by
the Emperor of Japan for her significant
contributions to children’s literature.

These authors and illustrators, among the finest creators of Japanese children’s literature,
were all nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Five were named winners.

Nominees since 2000

Ishii, Momoko 1907-2008

Kanzawa, Toshiko 1924-

Sato, Satoru 1928-2017

2002 Author

2000, 2006 Author

2004 Author

Tanikawa, Shuntaro 1931-

Nasu, Masamoto 1942-

Tomiyasu, Yoko 1959-

2008, 2010 Author

2012 Author

2020 Author

Ohta, Daihachi 1918-2016

Cho, Shinta 1927-2005

Hayashi, Akiko 1945-

1970, 2002-2006 Illustrator

1998, 2000 Illustrator

2008, 2010 Illustrator

Kako, Satoshi 1926-2018

Katayama, Ken 1940-

Tashima, Seizo 1940-

2012 Illustrator

2014, 2016 Illustrator

2018, 2020 Illustrator

21

Special Essay

Eiko Kadono:
Writer of Books that Bring People Together
Akira NOGAMI, Editor and Critic

no takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery
Service; Fukuinkan Shoten,1985) was produced as an
animation film by Studio
Ghibli under the directionof Hayao Miyazaki in 1989,
and translations of theoriginal work have been
published and favorably
reviewed overseas. As withthe live Japanese film madeof that series in 2014, fea-

Kiki's Delivery Service

Eiko Kadono is one of Japan’s most active writers in manyturing Kadono herself as the voice of the narrator, her contri-

different areas of the world of children’s literature today.

butions to the world of children’s literature are dynamic andExtensive experience overseas inspires the rich imagination

diverse.

and creativity of her works. Her career-long involvement with

Eiko Kadono was born in Tokyo in 1935. Her mother diedchildren’s books is based on her belief that they have thewhen she was five, and Kadono later crystalized her memo-

power to bring people together and unite the world. She hasries of that time in her autobiographical fantasy Rasuto ran

not only published nearly 200 original works—picture books,
books for preschoolers, fantasies, stories for young adults,
and essay anthologies—but also translated into Japanesemore than 100 works by overseas picture-book authors like
Raymond Briggs and Dick Bruna. The very quantity of her
publications testifies to her broad and vigorous activities in
the world of children’s books. Among Japan’s leading children’s book authors, she is one who is familiar and popularamong a remarkably broad spectrum of readers from young
children to teenagers and across a variety of genres. Her Majo

22

Last Run

The Tunnel Through the
Woods 1945

Special Essay(Last Run; Kadokawa, 2014), published in 2011. The Pacific
War started in December 1941 and Kadono’s father went
off to war. In the autumn of 1944, as attacks on the Japanese mainland intensified, Eiko was in the fourth grade ofelementary school when she was evacuated to the deepsnow country of Yamagata prefecture. Later, as the air raids
on Tokyo grew fiercer, she joined her mother, younger sisterand two younger brothers who moved to Chiba prefecture,
where they remained until the war ended. Her 2015 work,

A Husband for Nessie

Tonneru no mori 1945 (The Tunnel Through the Woods 1945;

I Really Want to Eat
Spaghetti

Kadokawa, 2015) is based on memories of that time. The

From around the time she published Biru ni kieta kitsune

searing experiences of wartime in her childhood not only led(The Fox Displaced by a Building; Poplar, 1977), Kadono be-

to her strong desire for peace but also went far in shaping

gan to produce works in a virtually constant stream, eachthe distinctive humor and ways she describes happiness thatnew title receiving the popular support of child readers. In

can be observed in all her works.

Nesshi no omukosan (A Husband for Nessie; Kinnohoshisha,

After graduating from high school, Kadono entered the1979), Zabu, a monster of Japan’s northern seas, sets off toEnglish literature department at Waseda University where

try to get the elusive Nessie of Loch Ness to marry him; heshe studied American literature under Tatsunokuchi Naotaro

manages to get to Loch Ness, barely escaping capture by(1903–1979), who was also a well-known translator of works

humans. Starting with Supagetti ga tabetai yo (I Really Want

by Mark Twain, Truman Capote, and Ernest Hemingway. Afterto Eat Spaghetti; Poplar, 1979) about an always-hungry ghost

graduation she worked at a publisher for a time, and after

who lives in the attic of a restaurant, Kadono launched themarriage she accompanied her husband to Brazil in 1959,

Chiisana Obake series featuring the exploits of quirky spect-

and lived in San Paulo until 1961. There she engaged in workers Atchi, Kotchi, and Sotchi, and further volumes in therelating to radio broadcasting for the Japanese community

series have continued to come out even today; they are allin Brazil. After leaving Brazil, Kadono traveled in the United

best-sellers. The lively characters spun out of the author’s un-

States, Canada, and Europe for four months before returning

trammeled imagination seem to be timelessly irresistible toto Japan, and in 1970 she made her debut as a writer withreaders.

the non-fiction Ruijinnyo shonen: Burajiru o tazunete (Brazil

Watashi no Mama wa Shizuka-san (Shizuka Is My Mother;and My Friend Luizinho; Poplar), the protagonist based on a

Kaisisha, 1980) is a humorous portrayal of the daily life of aboy who lived in her apartment building in San Paulo.

mother who is easily flustered, a bit of a dreamer, and even

Brazil and My Friend
Luizinho

The Fox Displaced by a
Building

Shizuka is My Mother23

Kiki’s Delivery Service (published in English in 2003 by
Annick Press) tells the story of the daughter of a witch, whoaccording to tradition, must leave home on a night of thefull moon after she turns thirteen to make an independent
life of her own. Though Kiki hasn’t managed to acquire anyother of the magic arts passed down by her mother, she has
mastered the art of flying on a broom. And so, on one nightof the full moon at the age of thirteen, she sets off with a
The Tales of Captain
Zubon

transistor radio slung on her broom and her black cat Jiji as
her companion. She soon settles in a town by the seaside

more childlike than the teenager who is the protagonist ofand, using her skill at flying, sets up a delivery service. The

the story. Like Kadono’s other books, the lilting style of thestories in this volume chronicle Kiki’s growth through thedialogue between the characters is part of the work’s special

various situations she encounters and people she meets. Set

charm. Watashi no Mama wa Shizuka-san and another work

against the backdrop of a skillfully constructed and original

were later awarded the Robo-no-Ishi Literary Award.

fantasy, Kadono’s accurate portrayal of the process of a girlZubon sencho-san no hanashi (The Tales of Captain Zubon;

growing up to independence is instructive and insightful.

Fukuinkan Shoten, 1981), which unfolds when a sickly boy who

This first volume is followed by five others, the titles of whichsuffers from asthma goes to live at a seaside town for the sum-are “Kiki and Her New Magic,” “Kiki and the Other Witch,” “Kikimer and makes the acquaintance of a ship’s captain who sharesin Love,” “The Magic Perch,” and “Departures,” in six volumes

with him the most fantastic recollections, won the Obunsha

telling how Kiki and Tombo fall in love, marry, and are bless-Children’s Literature Prize. Odorobo Burabura-shi (Master Thief

ed with two children. In the final volume their children grow

Mr. Burabura; Kodansha), published the same year, was award-

up and come to their own days of departure from home, so

ed the Sankei Children’s Publishing Award Grand Prize. Works

the six volumes represent a saga of the 30 years from Kiki’s

showcasing the powerful and freewheeling scale of Kadono’s

adolescence to the time her own children reach their time toimagination and her talent for using it to make readers laughbecome independent. This story of growing up has become

began winning one prize after another. Then in 1985, Kadono

virtually a monument in Japanese children’s literature today.

published Majo no takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service), which

The majority of Kadono’s works are aimed at young chil-

received Japan’s oldest literary prize, the Shogakukan Liter-

dren. Her Ringo-chan (Apple Andie; Poplar, 2003), about a

ary Award, as well as the prestigious Noma Children’s Literarysmall child who faces the difficult demands of a handmade

Prize. It was also included on the IBBY Honour List.

doll sent with a box of apples by her grandmother in the

Kiki and Her New Magic

24

Master Thief
Mr. Burabura

Departures

Apple Andie

Hiro and the Tiger Bed

a magic spell she hopes will protect her. Then one day shemeets a soldier playing a harmonica. It is a somewhat scaryand mysterious story, but the reader cannot but be moved by
the way a young girl, living in the unfamiliar countryside andwithout a father figure in the home, struggles with her fears
and insecurities. Kadono’s works and way of life were greatly
influenced by her experiences in the war, but this is the only
book that specifically documents what she went through at
Christmas, Christmas

I Met a Witch

the time. Tonneru no mori 1945 does not introduce adult perspectives or later interpretations of the war, but is profoundly

countryside, vividly portrays the psychology of a small child.

charged with the horror of war as seen through the eyes of a

The story was continued in a series that went on to be widely

young girl and with the author’s plea that war should neverread by young children. Tora beddo (Hiro and the Tiger Bed;be repeated. This work was recognized with the Sankei Chil-

Fukuinkan Shoten, 1994) tells of a girl whose parents seem

dren’s Literature Publishing Culture Prize and has been highly

completely preoccupied with her newborn baby sister. In apraised by critics and scholars. The words of the little girl in

fit of anger, she draws a picture of a scary tiger on the end

the midst of war speak directly and surely to the generationsof the baby’s bed. In the middle of the night, the tiger comesthat have not experienced war.

to life and declares it will eat up her sister. At her wits’ end to

The cosmopolitan sensibilities Kadono acquired in the

dissuade the beast, she remembers the lullaby her mothercourse of her transoceanic travel by ship, her sojourn living insings to the baby and manages to put the tiger to sleep. The

Brazil, and world travels in her twenties imbue her works withnext morning, the baby, still too young to talk, murmurs her

an international feel. The worlds depicted in her stories open

big sister’s name. It is a story that symbolically brings to theup scenes sometimes grand in scale and vividly fleshed out

surface the wildness within a child’s psyche and then, withfrom the author’s bountiful imagination and experience. The

what could be called the wisdom of the anthropologist, gen-appeal of Kadono’s literature, populated with unique charac-

tly and skillfully soothes it. That wisdom arises from Kadono’s

ters endowed with the virtues and foibles of human beings

own fieldwork done in various parts of Europe for non-fiction

everywhere, and captivating for her mellifluous style touchedworks such as Kurisumasu, Kurisumasu (Christmas, Christmas;

with whimsy and humor, is of a kind that can surely be shared

Fukuinkan Shoten, 1992), and Majo ni atta (I Met a Witch;by children not only in Japan but around the world. Quite a

Fukuinkan Shoten, 1998) and from her interest in ethnology

few of Kadono’s works have been translated into other Asianpassed down from the time of her grandfather.

languages (Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Thai); in addition to

On the seventieth anniversary of the end of World War

Kiki’s Delivery Service, some of her picture books and books

II, Kadono published the above-mentioned Tonneru no morifor young children have been translated and published in1945 based on her experience of evacuation from her home

North America and Europe (in English, Italian, and Swedish).

in Tokyo during the final stages of World War II. Transplanted
from her home in the city to the countryside of Chiba prefecture, the protagonist is a girl named Iko, a fifth grader, who

From the materials prepared by JBBY to recommend Eiko Ka-

passes through a tunnel-like forest on her way to school anddono for the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award, which sheback. Because of the rumor that a runaway soldier is hiding

accepted in August 2018 in Athens.

in the woods, Iko struggles with her fears and races throughthe woods, murmuring the words “Iko is passing by!“ like

(Translated by Lynne E. Riggs)

25

Japanese Books Selected forthe IBBY Honour ListJBBY has selected books for three categories (writing/illustration/translation) of the IBBY Honour List
every two years since 1990. Since 2008, JBBY has given these books the JBBY Award.
WRITING
Writing 1990
Kanzawa, Toshiko
Taran no hakucho(The Swan of Lake Talan)
Fukuinkan Shoten

Writing 1992
Mitamura, Nobuyuki
Boku ga kyoryu datta koro
(When I was a Dinosaur)
Holp Shuppan

Writing 1994
Iwase, Joko
Uso janaiyo to Tanikawa kun wa
itta (Tanikawa Said It's Not a Lie)PHP InstituteWriting 1996
Ito, Hiroshi
Osaru ni naru hi(Hurrah, I'm a Monkey)
KodanshaWriting 1998
Okada, Jun
Kosoado no mori no monogatari(The Stories of the Kosoado Woods)
RironshaWriting 2000
Ito, Yu
Oni no hashi(A Bridge to the Other World)
Fukuinkan Shoten

Writing 2002
Tomiyasu, Yoko
Yamanba yama no Mokko tachi(Mokko in Mount Yamamba)
Fukuinkan Shoten

Writing 2004
Uehashi, Nahoko
Kami no moribito(Guardian of the Awful God, 2 Vols.)
Kaiseisha

Writing 2006
Ogiwara, Noriko
Fujinhisho(The Tale of the Flute Player)
Tokuma Shoten

Writing 2008
Takadono, Hoko
Otomodasa ni narimasho(Let's Be Frrrrriends)
Froe-bel kan

Writing 2010
Hamano, Kyoko
Fyujon (Fusion)
KodanshaWriting 2014
Mahara, Mito
Tetsu no shibuki ga haneru(Where the Steel Sparks Fly)
KodanshaWriting 2016
Iwase, Joko
Atarashii ko ga kite
(Since the New One Came)
Iwasaki Shoten

Writing 2018
Furuuchi, Kazue
Furadan (Hula Boys)
Komine Shoten

ILLUSTRATION
Illustration 1990
Suzuki, Koji
Yama no disuko(Disco on the Mountain)
KakushaIllustration 1996
Matsuoka, Tatsuhide
Boku no robotto kyoryu tanken(Exploring the Dinosaur Age
with My Robot)
Fukuinkan Shoten

26

Illustration 1992
Yabuuchi, Masayuki
Yacho no zukan (Wild Birds of Japan)
Fukuinkan Shoten

Illustration 1998
Kobayashi, Yutaka
Sekai ichi utsukushii
boku no mura
(My Sweet Village)
PoplarIllustration 1994
Akino, Isamu
Ore wa uta da ore wa koko o aruku(Oral Poetry of the Native Americans)
Text by Hisao Kanaseki
Fukuinkan Shoten

Illustration 2000
Ono, Kaoru
Okagura(The Night of Kagura)
Text by Akiko Waki
PoplarIllustration 2002
Cho, Shinta
Tengu no hauchiwa(The Magical Fun of theLong-nosed Ogre)
Text by Yoshiko Kayama
Kyoiku Gageki
Illustration 2008
Arai, Ryoji
Taiyo orugan(A Sound of Taiyo Organ)
Kaiseisha

Illustration 2004
Saito, Takao
Kaeru no Heike monogatari(The Frogs and the Cat: Story
Inspired by Heike Monogatari)
Text by Kazunari Hino
Fukuinkan Shoten
Illustration 2010
Ito, Hideo
Ushio (Ushio)
Billiken Shuppan

Illustration 2006
Cho, Shinta
Mimizu no Ossan(The Story of the Earthworm named
Ossan)
Doshinsha

Illustration 2012
Inoue, Yosuke
Boshi (Hats)
East Press

Illustration 2016
Yoshida, Hisanori
Kibo no bokujo(The Ranch of Hope in Fukushima)
Text by Eto Mori
Iwasaki Shoten

Illustration 2018
Suzuki, Koji
Domu gatari (Dome Story)
Text by Arthur Binard
Tamagawa University Press

Translation 1990
Trans. Nakamura, Taeko
Kari o suru Eira(The Mammoth Hunters byJean M. Auel)
Hyoronsha

Translation 1992
Trans. Uchida, Risako
Roshia no mukashi banashi(Russian Folktales)
Fukuinkan Shoten

Translation 1994
Trans. Shimizu, Masako
Gedo senki(A Wizard of Earthsea by
Ursula K. Le Guin)
Iwanami Shoten

Translation 1996
Trans. Kakegawa, Yasuko
Unmei no uma Dakuringu(Darkling by K. M. Peyton)
Iwanami Shoten

Translation 1998
Trans. Waki, Akiko
Oka no ie no Sera
(The Silent Shore by
Ruth Elwin Harris)
Iwanami Shoten

Translation 2000
Trans. Sakai, Haruhiko
Arabian naito(The Arabian Nights edited by
Wiggin and Smith)
Fukuinkan Shoten

Translation 2002
Trans. Sakuma, Yumiko
Magaretto to Meizon(Last Summer with Maizon by
Jacqueline Woodson)
PoplarTranslation 2004
Trans. Matsuoka, Kyoko
Ramona to atarashii kazoku(Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary)
GakkenTranslation 2006
Trans. Hishiki, Akirako
Mai ga ita natsu(Maj Darlin by Mats Wahl)
Tokuma Shoten

Translation 2008
Trans. Chiba, Shigeki
Ori no naka no himitsu(Dumb Creatures by Jeanne Willis)
Asunaro Shobo

Translation 2010
Trans. Kodama, Tomoko
Daido to tochan(Dido and Pa by Joan Aiken)
FuzanboTranslation 2012
Trans. Saito, Michiko
Shikago yori tondemonai machi(A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck)
Tokyo Sogensha

Translation 2014
Trans. Jingu, Teruo
Tsubame-go to Amazon-go(Swallows and Amazons by
Arthur Ransome)Iwanami Shoten

Translation 2016
Trans. Harada, Masaru
Haremu no tatakau honya(No Crystal Stair byVaunda Micheaux Nelson)
Asunaro Shobo

Translation 2018
Trans. Motai, Natsuu
Oshizukani, chichi ga hirune shiteorimasu (Please Be Quiet, My Father
is Taking a Nap: Jewish Folktales)
Iwanami Shoten

Illustration 2014
Abe, Hiroshi
Shin sekai e(To the New World)
Kaiseisha

TRANSLATION

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Recent Translations into Japanese
Recommended by JBBYJBBY selected books in three categories (picture books/chapter books and novels/nonfiction)for its recent publication Translated Children’s Books. JBBY publishes this catalog every year
for Japanese readers. This year’s catalog listed books published since 2016.

Picture Books
A Child of Books by O. Jeffers and S. Winston (UK) | Hon no ko, trans.
Motoyuki Shibata; Poplar
A Dot in the Snow by C. Averiss and F. Woodcock (UK) | Pochi tto akai
otomodachi, trans. Yumiko Fukumoto; Shonen Shashin Shimbunsha
Armstrong: Die abenteuerliche Reise einer Maus zum Mond by T.
Kuhlmann (Switzerland) | Amusutorongu: Sora tobu nezumi no daiboken,trans. Mizuhito Kanehara; Bronze Shinsha

Pientje krijgt een eetmachientje by I. Lammertink and L. Georger(Netherlands) | Suki kirai tonde ike! Mogumogu mashin, trans. Etsuko
Nozaka; Nishimura Shoten
Sleepy People by M. B. Goffstein (US) | Nemutai hito tachi, trans. Shuntaro
Tanikawa; Asunaro Shobo
Sonya's Chickens by P. Wahl (Canada) | Sonya no mendori, trans. Chihiro
Nakagawa; Kumon Shuppan

A Tale of the Tiger Which Lives in Mount KumGang by Kwon Jeongsaeng and Jeong Seung-gak | Kongozan no tora: Kankoku no mukashi
banashi, trans. Niji Kamiya; Fukuinkan Shoten

Sweet Corn (1995) by J. Stevenson (US) | Dore ga ichiban suki? trans.
Shigeki Chiba; Iwanami Shoten

Before Morning by J. Sidman and B. Krommes (US) | Asa ga kuru mae ni,trans. Yumiko Sakuma; Iwanami Shoten

The Magic Silver Tree by S. Wettasinghe | Fushigi na gin no ki: Suriranka
no mukashi banashi, trans. Kyoko Matsuoka and Masako Ichikawa;
Fukuinkan Shoten

Daniel Finds a Poem by M. Archer (US) | Shi tte nani? trans. Chihiro
Ishizu; BL Shuppan
Der wunderbare Baum by J. Kilaka (Switzerland) | Gochiso no ki: Tanzania
no mukashi banashi, trans. Yumiko Sakuma; Nishimura Shoten
Du Iz Tak? by C. Ellis (UK) | Nazuzu konoppe? trans. Arthur Binard;
Froebel-kan
El Menino by ISOL (Spain) | Cicchai san, trans. Kazumi Uno; Kodansha
Emma and Julia Love Ballet by B. McClintock (US) | Futari wa barerina,trans. Yumiko Fukumoto; Holp Shuppan
Escrito y Dibujado por Enriqueta by Liniers (Argentina) | Enriketa, ehon otsukuru, trans. Kazumi Uno; Holp Shuppan
Heure Bleue by Isabelle Simler (France) | Ao no jikan, trans. Chihiro Ishizu;
Iwanami Shoten
I am a Cat by G. Bernstein (UK) | Saimon wa neko de aru, trans. Chihiro
Nakagawa; Asunaro Shobo
If You Were the Moon by L. P. Salas and L. Kim (US) | Moshi kimi ga tsuki
dattara, trans. Ryo Kisaka; Mitsumura Educational
King of the Sky by N. Davies and L. Carlin (UK) | Sora no osama, trans.
Yumiko Sakuma; BL Shuppan
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña (US) | Obaachan to basu ni
notte, trans. Chihiro Ishizu; Suzuki Shuppan
Motor Miles by J. Burningham (UK) | Doraiba Mairuzu, trans. Shuntaro
Tanikawa; BL Shuppan
Odd Egg by E. Gravett (UK) | Henteko tamago, trans. Yumiko Fukumoto;Froebel-kan
Out of the Woods by R. Bond (US) | Mori no oku kara: Mukashi kanada deatta honto no hanashi, trans. Sumiko Moriuchi; Goblin Shobo

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Petit Pois by P. Cali and S. Mourrain (Canada) | Mame mame kun, trans.
Misao Fushimi; Asunaro Shobo

The Tale of the Castle Mice by M. Bond and E. Sutton (UK) | Ningyo no
ie ni sundeita nezumi ikka no ohanashi, trans. Atsuko Hayakawa; Tokuma
ShotenThe Treasure Box by M. Wild and F. Blackwood (Australia) | Kono hon okakushite, trans. Arthur Binard; Iwasaki Shoten
The Treasure from Dragon King by I. Ganbaatar and B. Bolormaa | Ryuosama no takaramono, trans. Noriko Tsuda; Fukuinkan Shoten
Time Now to Dream by T. Knapman and H. Oxenburry (UK) | Yume miru
jikan yo kodomotachi, trans. Mutsumi Ishii; BL Shuppan
Town is by the Sea by J. Schwartz and S. Smith (Canada/US) | Umibe nomachi de, trans. Yoshihito Iwajo; BL Shuppan
Under the Same Sky by B. Teckentrup (UK) | Onaji sora no shita de, trans.
Ryo Kisaka; Hisakata ChildUp in Heaven by E. C. Clark (UK) | Nakanaide, Asa: Tengoku ni itta inu noohanashi, trans. Tomoko Kodama; Tokuma Shoten

Chapter Books and Novels
Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories by R. J. Palacio (US) | Mou hitotsu no
wanda, trans. Haruno Nakai; Holp Shuppan
Baddräkten by Å. Storck and G. Spee (Sweden) | Watashi mo mizugi o kitemitai, trans. Eriko Kitadai; Saela Shobo
Counting by 7s by H. G. Sloan (US) | Sekai o nana de kazoetara, trans.
Ritsuko Sanbe; Shogakukan
Ein Schnurrbart erobert die Welt by S. M. Orlovský and M. Roher (Austria)| Kuchihige ga sekai o sukuu, trans. Noriko Wakamatsu; Iwanami Shoten
Endangered by E. Schrefer (US) | Bonobo to tomo ni: Mitsurin no yami okoete, trans. Yoshiko Funato; Fukuinkan Shoten

Ferda V Mravenisti by O. Sekora (Czech Republic) | Arizuka no Feruda,trans. Akiko Sekizawa; Fukuinkan Shoten

Nonfiction Books

George by A. Gino (US) | Joji to himitsu no Merissa, trans. Hiroko
Shimamura; Kaiseisha

Annie and Helen by D. Hopkinson & R. Colon (US) | Sariban sensei toHeren: Futari no kiseki no yon kagetsu, trans. Tomoko Kodama; Mitsumura
Educational

La Tierra del Sol y la Luna by C. L. Narvaez (Spain) | Taiyo to tsuki nodaichi, trans. Kazumi Uno; Fukuinkan Shoten
Me & Mr. Bell by P. Roy (Canada) | Boku to Beru san: Tomodachi wa
hatsumei o, trans. Rie Kushida; PHP Institute
Mister Cleghorn's Seal by J. Kerr (UK) | Arubato san to akachan azarashi,trans. Izumi Mihara; Tokuma Shoten
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by A. Pitcher (UK) | Sayonara, supaidaman, trans. Reina Nakano; Kaiseisha
Night Birds of Nantucket by J. Aiken (UK) | Nantaketto no yacho, trans.
Tomoko Kodama; Fuzanbo

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by L.
Mattick & S. Blackall (US) | Pu-san to deatta hi: Sekai de ichiban yumei na
kuma no honto ni atta ohanashi, trans. Fumio Yamaguchi; Hyoronsha
Goldon Parks by C. B. Weatherford & J. Christoph (US) | Godon Pakusu,
trans. Toshiya Echizen; Mitsumura Educational
Green City by A. Drummond (US) | Midori no machi o tsukuro: Saigai onorikoete mirai o mezasu, trans. Yuriko Matsumura; Fukuinkan Shoten
If...A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers
by D. J. Smith (US) | Moshimo chikyu ga hitotsu no ringo dattara, trans.
Shigeki Chiba; Komine Shoten

OCDaniel by W. King (US)| Boku wa O・C・Danieru, trans. Mai Onishi;
Suzuki Shuppan

Le Voyage de Fanny: L'Historire Vraie d'une Jeune Fille au Destin Horsde Commun by F. Ben-Ami (France) | Fani: Jusan sai no shiki kan, trans.
Misao Fushimi; Iwanami Shoten

One Christmas Wish by K. Rundell and E. Sutton (UK) | Teo no fushigi na
kurisumasu, trans. Noriko Ochi; Goblin Shobo

Locomotive by B. Floca (US) | Hashire!! kikansha, trans. Masamichi
Higurashi; Kaiseisha

Paperboy by V. Vawter (US) | Pepa boi, trans. Masaru Harada; Iwanami
ShotenLots by N. Davies & E. Sutton (UK) | Iroiro ippai: Chikyu no samazama na
ikimono, trans. Noriko Ochi; Goblin Shobo

Povídání o pejskovi a kočičce by J. Čapek (Czech Republic) | Koinu tokoneko no okashina hanashi, trans. Yuko Kimura; Iwanami Shoten

Mad about Monkeys by O. Davey (UK) | Saru tte saikou!, trans. Noriko
Ochi; Kaiseisha

Rain Reign by A. M. Martin (US) | Rein: Ame o dakishimete, trans. Kaoru
Nishimoto; Komine Shoten

Malala's Magic Pencil, by M. Yousafzai (US) | Marara no maho no enpitsu,
trans. Ryo Kisaka; Poplar

Salt to the Sea by R. Sepetys (US) | Itetsuku umi no muko ni, trans. Kaori
Nozawa; Iwanami Shoten

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by
E. A.McCully (US) | Hatsumeika ni natta onna no ko Matti, trans. Hiromi
Miyasaka; Mitsumura Educational

Scarlet Ibis by G. Lewis (UK) | Kurenai no toki no sora, trans. Yumiko
Sakuma; Hyoronsha
The Best Christmas by L. Kingman (US) | Tobikiri suteki na kurisumasu,
trans. Reiko Yamauchi; Iwanami Shoten
The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate by J. Kelly (US) | Dawin to tabishite, trans. Michiko Saito; Holp Shuppan
The Losers Club by A. Clements (US) | Boku tachi makegumi kurabu, trans.
Natsuko Tanaka; Kodansha
The Pants Project by C. Clarke (UK) | Pantsu purojekuto, trans. Ritsuko
Sanbe; Asunaro Shobo
The Poet's Dog by P. MacLachlan (US) | Tedi ga hoseki o mitsukeru made,trans. Tomoko Kodama; Asunaro Shobo
The Tale of Olga da Polga by M. Bond (UK) | Morumotto Oruga nomonogatari, trans. Noriko Otsuka; PHP Institute
The War that Saved My Life, by K. B. Bradley (US) | Watashi ga idonda
tatakai 1939 nen, trans. Michiko Osaku; Hyoronsha
The Wolf Wilder by K. Rundell (UK) | Okami o mori e, trans. Masaru
Harada; Komine Shoten
The Wolves of Currumpaw by W. Grill (UK) | Karanpo no okami, trans.
Shigeki Chiba; Iwanami Shoten

草蛙媽媽 by 蕭甘牛 (China) | Tsuki kara kita Touyaya, trans. Hisako
Kimishima; Iwanami Shoten

Planting the Wild Garden by K. O. Galbraith & W. A. Halperin (US) |Watashitachi no tane maki: Tane o meguru inochi tachi no ohanashi, trans.
Kaho Nashiki; Nora Shoten
Ramadan Moon by N. B. Robert & S. Adl (UK) | Ramadan no otsuki-sama,trans. Kimie Maeda; Kaihou Shuppansha
The Skeleton Book by B. Morgan & S. Parker (UK) | Shikumi ga maru
wakari!: Hone no bijuaru zukan, trans. Terumi Ota; Iwasaki Shoten
The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window by J.
Gottesfeld & P. McCary (US) | Niwa no maronie: Anne Furanku o mitsumeta
ki, trans. Mayumi Matsukawa; Hyoronsha
The Untold History of the United States: Young Readers Edition by
O. Stone & P. Kuznick (US) | Katararenakatta Amerika shi, trans. Masao
Torimi; Asunaro Shobo
The Way to School by R. McCarney (Canada) | Sugoine! Minna no
Tsugakuro, trans. Yoshiko Nishida; Nishimura Shoten
The William Hoy Story by N. Churnin & J. Tuya (US) | Mimi no kikoenai
meja riga Uiriamu Hoi, trans. Hiroshi Saito; Mitsumura Educational
Une Petite Fille privilégiée by F. Christophe (France) | Inochi wa okuri
mono: Horokosuto o ikinobite, trans. Mariko Kono; Iwasaki Shoten
We Will not be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movementthat Defied Adolf Hitler by R. Freedman (US) | Seigi no koe wa kienai:
Han nachisu, Shirobara teiko undo no gakusei tachi, trans. Hiroko Shibuya;
Chobunsha

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JBBY Book Selection TeamThe JBBY Book Selection Team discussed and collaboratively chose the titles listed inthis publication. The name in parentheses after each book description is the name of
the committee member who wrote the description.

Yasuko DOI

Yukiko HIROMATSU

Institute for Children’s Literature (IICLO). Besides re-curator of Chihiro Art Museum, Tokyo. Yukiko Hiro-searching reading activities and the history of Japa-

matsu’s works include Kyo no ehon ashita no ehon

Director and senior researcher at the International

nese children’s literature, Yasuko Doi plans projects(Picture Books of Today, Picture Books of Tomor-

such as training courses for teachers and librarians,row), Series Ima mukashi ehon Vol. 1-11 (Picture

and lectures and symposiums for children’s book au-

Books of Old Tales for Now). She received the Japanthors from Japan and overseas. Co-editor of Kodomo

Picture Book Award Translated Picture Book Awardno hon hyakumon hyakuto (One Hundred Questionsfor Hashire, Toto (Run, Toto! by Eun Young Cho) inand Answers About Children’s Books) in 2013. Jury

2014. She has sat on the jury of many international

for the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. For-

competitions including as chair of the 2017 Biennial

mer JBBY board member.

of illustrations Bratislava (BIB). JBBY board member.

Akira NOGAMI

Yumiko SAKUMA

magazines at Shogakukan; former president of

Gakuin Women’s Junior College, and director of

Shogakukan Creative. Taught children’s literature

the Japan-Africa Children’s Books Project (JACBOP).

and culture at the Shirayuri University and the Tokyo

After working in publishing as an editor, Yumiko Sa-

Seitoku University. Akira Nogami’s works include

kuma began translating children’s books. Her more

Served as managing editor of children’s monthly

Translator, editor, former professor at the Aoyama

Nihonjidobungaku no gendai e (To the Modern Chil-than 200 translations include Chronicles of Ancientdren’s Literature of Japan), Ekkyo suru jidobungaku

Darkness by Michelle Paver, Dusk by Uri Shulevitz,(Children’s Literature Crossing Borders), and Kodomo

and Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama. Her translation

bunka no gendaishi (Contemporary History of Chil-of Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson

dren’s Culture). Managing director of the Japan PEN

made the IBBY Honour List. JBBY president.

Club. JBBY vice president.

Tomoko SHIROTA

Chief librarian at the Miyoshi town library, Saitama
prefecture. As a public librarian with long experience superintending children’s services, she has
worked diligently to research and promote children’s
literature by implementing read-alouds, book talks,
Bookstart and other programming. She leads workshops in a range of locations for librarians and daycare workers, nurturing the next generation. She has
authored Yomikikase wakuwaku handobukku (ReadAloud Excitement! A Handbook) and co-authoredEhon—kodomo no tame no 300 satsu (Picture Books:
300 Titles for Children). JBBY board member.

30

Picture book author, critic, and curator. Former chief

Digital Catapult Inc.
Tokyo Toyama Kaikan Bldg. 4th floor, 5-1-3, Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku, TOKYO JAPAN 112-0001
TEL : +81-3-6865-8116 WEBSITE : http://digital-catapult.com/ E-MAIL : information@digital-catapult.com

Japanese Children's Books 2019

JBBY's recommendations for young readers throughout the world© Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), 2019
JBBY Secretariat
1-32 Kandajimbocho, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 101-0051 Japan
Tel. [int. +81] 3 6273 7703
Fax [int. +81] 3 6273 7708
E-mail: info@jbby.org
http://www.jbby.org/
Book selection:
Yasuko Doi, Yukiko Hiromatsu, Akira Nogami, Yumiko Sakuma, Tomoko Shirota
Translation: Cathy Hirano, Ginny Tapley Takemori, Avery Fischer Udagawa
Cover illustration: Koji Suzuki
Supported by
The Foundation for the Advancement of Juvenile Education in Japan
Digital Catapult Inc.
Poplar Publishing Co., Ltd.

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