was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

poet and a leading figure among Japanese authors of children's books during the

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

Early life

Junichi Yoda was born in 1905 in Setaka (now Miyama), Fukuoka, the second son of Yotarō Asayama and Sue, and was adopted as the heir of the Yodas, relatives of the Asayamas.

Literary career

While teaching at elementary schools in Chikugo, Yoda studied under

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. Then he went to Tokyo and became an editor of ''Akai Tori'' (Red Bird), an influential children's literature magazine which

Miekichi Suzuki was a Japanese novelist and author of children's stories from Hiroshima. Biography Suzuki was born in Hiroshima. He studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo), and later launched a children's literatur ...

published and where

Nankichi Niimi was a Japanese author, sometimes known as the Hans Christian Andersen of Japan. Niimi was born in Yanabe, in the city of Handa, Aichi prefecture, on July 30, 1913. He lost his mother when he was four years old. His literary skill was noticea ...

was active at that time. In 1929, Yoda published his first book for children, ''Flag, Bee, and Cloud'' (「旗・蜂・雲」). From 1950 to 1960 Yoda gave lectures on children's literature at

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 neighbo ...

. In 1962 he became the chairman of the Japanese Association of Writers for Children. He was awarded the Sankei Juvenile Literature Publishing Culture Award for ''the Complete Works of Junichi Yoda'' (「与田凖一全集」) in 1967 and the Noma Juvenile Literature Prize for ''Noyuki Yamayuki'' (「野ゆき山ゆき」) in 1973. Michio Mado and Kimiko Aman were his pupils.

Works

* "A Goat and a Dish" 「山羊とお皿」 * "12 Stumps" 「十二の切株」 * "Bippu and the Town Mayor" 「びっぷとちょうちょう」 * "A Song of Playing with a Ball Hitting with the Hand" 「てまりのうた」 * "The Complete Works of Junichi Yoda" 「与田凖一全集」

Yoda Junichi Memorial Museum in Miyama Fukuoka

http://www.library.miyama.fukuoka.jp/yoda/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoda, Junichi 1905 births 1997 deaths People from Miyama, Fukuoka Japanese male poets Writers from Fukuoka Prefecture 20th-century Japanese poets 20th-century Japanese male writers