was a distinguished Japanese writer and translator of

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

s. She was the first member of the Japanese Art Academy from the field of children's literature.

Biography

Ishii was born in

Urawa, Saitama was a Cities of Japan, city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. On May 1, 2001, Urawa was merged with the cities of Ōmiya, Saitama, Ōmiya and Yono, Saitama, Yono to create the city of Saitama, Saitama, Saitama. Since April 1, 2003, the area ...

, and graduated from the

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighb ...

with an English literature degree in 1928. While working as an editor at Iwanami Shoten Publishers, she decided to become a children's writer after reading ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...

'' by English author

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

, which she translated in 1940. Her first book as an author, ''Non-chan kumo ni noru'' (Non-chan rides on a cloud) was published in 1947; a best-seller, it was made into a

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

in 1955. All told, she published nineteen books of her own and 120 translations for children. In 1958, she started a library for children called "Katsura bunko" in her own house. She was awarded a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1954. Ishii received many honors in her life, including the Minister of Education Award for Promotion of Art for ''Non-chan kumo ni noru'' (1951), the Kikuchi Kan Award for achievement and contribution to the postwar world of children's literature (1953), the Itochu Memorial Foundation Award for Distinguished Service to Children's Bunko (1984), the Japanese Art Academy Award for achievement in the world of children's books (1993), and the 1994

Yomiuri Prize The is a literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1949 by the Yomiuri Shinbun Company to help form a "strong cultural nation". The winner is awarded two million Japanese yen and an inkstone. Award categories For the first two years, ...

for her two-volume autobiographical novel ''Maboroshi No Akai Mi'' (Memoirs of a childhood) in 1995. In 1997, she became a member of the Japanese Art Academy, the first member from the field of children's literature.

References

External links

''Japan Times'' obituary

Playful Antiquarian: Obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishii, Momoko 1907 births 2008 deaths Japanese centenarians Japanese writers Japanese children's writers 20th-century Japanese women writers Japanese women children's writers Yomiuri Prize winners Women centenarians