Yōko Sano

Yōko Sano was born in Beijing, China, on 28 June 1938. A writer of many talents, she produced numerous children’s books. She is particularly well known for her book, and movie, The Cat Who Lived One Million Times.[1] She traveled to Europe in 1967 and studied lithography in Berlin. In 1973 she published her first picture book, Sū-chan to neko (Su and the Cat). She went on to produce various styles of picture books, including Ojisan no kasa (Uncle’s Umbrella), Watashi no bōshi (My Hat; winner of the Kodansha Award for Picture Books), and Nē tōsan (Hey Papa; winner of the Shogakukan Children’s Publication Culture Award). She also produced illustrations for others’ works and translated picture books into Japanese. Her script Jitensha buta ga yatte kita (The Bicycle Pig Is Coming) was used in stage performances for children by the Maru theater company. She died on 5 November 2010.

She was married to the poet Shuntarō Tanikawa, and illustrated a volume of his poems: Onna Ni, translated by William I. Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura (Shueisha, 2012).[2]

• Medal of Honour with purple ribbon (2003)
• Kobayashi Hideo Prize (2004)
• Sazanami Iwaya Literature Prize (2008)

• The Child Who Was Born (Umaretekita kodomo / うまれてきた子ども)
• The Cat Who Lived One Million Times (Hyakumankai ikita neko / 100万回生きたねこ) - now a movie
• Hey, Papa (Ne, tosan / ねえ　とうさん) - won the Shogakukan Children’s Publication Culture Award
• My Hat (Watashi no bōshi / わたしのぼうし) - won the Kodansha Award for Picture Books
• Su and the Cat (Sū-chan to neko)
• Uncle's Umbrella (Ojisan no kasa)

• Yoko Sano on Books from Japan