Eiko Kadono

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Eiko Kadono
Native name
角野 栄子
Born (1935-01-01) January 1, 1935 (age 89)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationAuthor
Notable worksKiki's Delivery Service

Eiko Kadono (角野 栄子, Kadono Eiko), real name Eiko Watanabe (渡辺英子, Watanabe Eiko), born January 1, 1935, is a Japanese author of children's literature, picture books, non-fiction, and essays in Shōwa and Heisei period in Japan. Her most famous work Kiki's Delivery Service, released in 1985, was made into an anime film by Hayao Miyazaki, and spawned a series of sequel novels. In 2018, she won the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Currently, she serves as a guest professor at the Nihon Fukushi University in Aichi Prefecture.

Biography[edit]

Kadono was born in Tokyo, Japan. As a child during the World War II, she was evacuated to North Japan.[1] She attended and graduated with a degree in English literature from Waseda University. After graduation in 1960 at the age of 25, she emigrated to Brazil where she spent two years. She wrote a non-fiction story called Brazil and My Friend Luizinho (Ruijinnyo shōnen, Burajiru o tazunete), based on her experience at that time, about a Brazilian boy who loves dancing samba. Brazil was released in 1970.[2] Kadono stated that living through World War II sparked her rebellious nature and had a profound impact on the way she viewed the world.[3]

She has published almost two hundred works, mainly books for children, including picture books and prose works for older children, as well as essay collections.[1] Her first successful children's book, published Ôdorabô Bula Bula shi (The Robber Bla-Bla), was published in 1981.[4] In 1985, she published the children's novel Majo no Takkyūbin (魔女の宅急便, Kiki's Delivery Service), about a young witch-in-training who starts a delivery service in a seaside town of Koriko. The book received several awards, including the Noma Prize for Children's Literature, the Shogakukan Children's Publication Culture Award, and the IBBY Honor List.[2] It was adapted into a film by Hayao Miyazaki in 1989 and became one of his most popular films.[1][5] The book was also adapted into a live-action film in 2014, directed by Takashi Shimizu.[6] She has written eight sequels to Kiki's.[7][8]

Selected bibliography[edit]

Kiki's Delivery Service[edit]

  • Kiki's Delivery Service (1985)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin 2: Kiki to Atarashii Mahō (魔女の宅急便その2 キキと新しい魔法, Witch's Express Home Delivery 2: Kiki and Her New Magic) (1993)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin 3: Kiki to mō Hitori no Majo (魔女の宅急便その3 キキともうひとりの魔女, Witch's Express Home Delivery 3: Kiki and the Other Witch) (2000)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin 4: Kiki no Koi (魔女の宅急便その4 キキの恋, Witch's Express Home Delivery 4: Kiki's Love) (2004)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin 5: Mahō no Tomarigi (魔女の宅急便その5 魔法の止まり木, Witch's Express Home Delivery 5: Perch of Magic) (2007)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin 6: Sorezore no Tabidachi (魔女の宅急便その6 それぞれの旅立ち, Witch's Express Home Delivery 6: Each and Every Departure) (2009)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin Tokubetsu-hen: Kiki ni Deatta Hitobito (魔女の宅急便 特別編 キキに出会った人びと, Witch's Express Home Delivery Special Edition: People who met Kiki) (2016)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin Tokubetsu-hen 2: Kiki to Jiji (魔女の宅急便 特別編その2 キキとジジ, Witch's Express Home Delivery Special Edition 2: Kiki and Jiji) (2017)
  • Majo no Takkyūbin Tokubetsu-hen 3: Keke to Hanbun Majo (魔女の宅急便 特別編その3 ケケと半分魔女, Witch's Express Home Delivery Special Edition 3: Keke and the Half Witch) (2022)

Stand-alone[edit]

  • Spagetti ga Tabete Iyo (1979)
  • Grandpa's Soup (1989), with illustrator Satomi Ichikawa[9]
  • Sarada De Genki (2005)

Awards[edit]

Kadono won the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing.[10][1] The judges described her work as having "an ineffable charm, compassion, and élan" and praised her inspirational female characters as "singularly self-determining and enterprising."[10][11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "The 'good witch' who wrote Japanese classic Kiki's Delivery Service". BBC. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "J'Lit - Authors : Eiko Kadono - Books from Japan". booksfromjapan.jp. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. ^ "The lifelong rebellion of children's author Eiko Kadono | The Japan Times". 17 August 2019.
  4. ^ Hunt, Peter; Ray, Sheila G. Bannister (1996). "Japan". International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Vol. 1 (1 ed.). Taylor & Francis. pp. 841. ISBN 0-415-08856-9.
  5. ^ IGN Movies (5 August 2014). "The Top 10 Miyazaki Movies". IGN. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  6. ^ Maggie Lee (March 2014). "'Kiki's Delivery Service' Review: Stick to Miyazaki - Variety". Variety. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  7. ^ ""Kiki's Delivery Service" (the book) is a pretty magical read". jimhillmedia.com. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  8. ^ Casey Baseel (3 March 2014). "Our impressions from the live-action Kiki's Delivery Service film - RocketNews24". RocketNews24. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Children's Book Review: Grandpa's Soup by Eiko Kadono". PublishersWeekly.com. October 1999. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  10. ^ a b "2018 HCAA Winners". International Board on Books for Young People. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  11. ^ Nakamura, Yasusaburo (2 September 2018). "Kadono honored for books with inspiring female characters". Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.

External links[edit]

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