Japan

Yoko Tomiyasu

Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, Volume 57, Number

4, 2019, p. 43 (Article)

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/bkb.2019.0113

For additional information about this article

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/740898

[ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ]
 Yoko Tomiyasu
Author–Japan
“There was a long era of writing stories that I wanted to read for
myself. The origin of my creativity is the desire to write about a
wonderous world that children can walk into from their everyday
life. I want to write about the strange and mysterious world that
I have loved since I was a child."

Born in Tokyo in 1959, Yoko Tomiyasu grew up
listening to many stories filled with monsters and
wonders, told by her grandmother and great-aunts,
who were all lovers of storytelling and mischief. At
university she studied the literature of the Heian
period (the ancient Japanese era lasting from the
eighth to twelfth centuries AD). She was deeply
attracted to stories of ghosts and ogres and she fell
more and more into the world of traditional folklore.
Yoko Tomiyasu is one of Japan’s most popular
authors and has published more
than 120 works. Her stories are
humorous and magical, filled
with distinctive characters who
often come out of Japanese
folklore. Her unique world has
enchanted countless numbers
of children, and she is an over-
whelming top choice for libraries
and bunko reading groups. While
still in high school, Tomiyasu
wrote many short stories. As a
graduation present, her parents
had three of them published
J A PA N
around the sky on. The stories of Dr. Yanari’s life
with his new friends are full of humor. This book
also introduces some of the author’s best-known
themes, folklore, folk beliefs, and shared illusions
from ancient Japanese society, re-created to go with
uniquely amusing, modern-day characters. Tomi-
yasu’s books are mainly set in the present day. The
traditional culture that wells up from deep inside
them brings back a magical world. Reality and the
imaginative world of illusion are brought together
and portrayed richly and humor-
ously. Among her many awards
are the Niimi Nankichi Children’s
Literature Award for the series of
Kurayami-dani no mamono (The
Devil of Darkness Valley).
Tomiyasu keeps her attention
on people, beliefs, and characters
rooted in the land. Her objections
to urbanization and the destruc-
tion of nature are told through
ghosts and fabled creatures
from long ago. She symbolically
presents antiwar sentiment and

as a collection. It was 1977 and messages of peace.

Tomiyasu was eighteen. When
she was at university, a professor
sent these stories to a publisher. Two were published
in a children’s magazine, and this was the begin-
ning of her career as a children’s writer. Her first
two published stories give a glimpse of Tomiyasu’s
future works, many of which have similarly promi-
nent elements of nature and the four seasons. In
1984, Tomiyasu’s first book, Kutsu nannte iranai (I
Don’t Need Shoes), was published.
Tomiyasu’s perhaps best-known early work,
Kunugi-bayashi no zawazawa-so (Noisy House of
Chestnut Woods), was published in 1990. The main
character is Dr. Yanari, an employee at a tofu maker
who is trying to create a cloud that people can ride
43 | BOOKBIRD
Five Books by Yoko Tomiyasu
盆まねき | Bon manekini (Invitation to the summer
festival of Bon). Kaisheisha, 2011. 
まゆとおに | Mayu to oni (Mayu & Ogre: A story of
witch’s daughter). Fukuinkan Shoten, 2004. 
菜の子先生がやってきた！ | Nanoko sensei ga yatte
kita! (Nanoko the Magical Teacher). Fukuinkan
Shoten, 2003.
ムジナ探偵局〈名探偵登場!〉 | Mujina tantei-
kyoku: Meitantei tojo! (Mujina detective agency).
Doshinsha, 1999.
小さな山神スズナ姫 | Chiisana yamagami Suzuna
hime (Suzuna, the little mountain goddess).
Kaiseisha, 1996.
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