exciting story of the hero’s encounter with native little people, and the rediscovery of
them after the war appealed to readers of all generations; it has grown to a five-volume
series, and commands a wide audience even now.
Miyoko Matsutani’s Tatsunoko Taro [Taro, Dragon’s Son] (1960) was very significant in
two ways. It was one of the first original stories based on folk and fairy tale materials,
and one of the first long stories for younger children with a strong storyline, a simple
plot and characters and an easily understandable theme. Toshiko Kanzawa’s Chibikko
Kamu no Bôken [The Adventure of Little Cam] (1961) was also a folk-tale-based
adventure for younger children.
If the 1960s were the period of innovation, the next ten years were the period of
expansion. The revival of epic fantasy in Britain and the USA may have encouraged such
work in Japan, and there were two ambitious works in the genre in 1972 (which did not,
however, rise above the level of the experimental). Gin no honoo no Kuni [The Story of the
Country of Silver Flame] by Kanzawa tells of the rebirth of the great legendary reindeer
Hayate and his struggle to recover his lost kingdom of silver flame from the barbarous
blue wolves; Hikariguruma yo Maware [Spin Round, Oh Wheels of Light!] is the story of
the quest for a symbol of life by boys and girls.
Eniji Shôno (1915–1993) was well-known as the author of Hoshi no Makiba [The
Meadow of Stars] (1963), a novel about the dream world of Momiichi, who was wounded
in the war and suffers from a memory defect. Arufabetto Guntô [The Alphabetical
Archipelago] (1977) is a story of nonsensical voyages to twenty-six islands with their
names in alphabetical order. His work is full of wit, humour and the joy of life, with sad
undertones of his serious experiences in wartime.
Eiko Kadono (1935-) began to write for children rather late, and her first successful
nonsense story Ôdorobô Bula Bula shi [The Robber Bla-Bla] (1981) and her most popular
work of fantasy Majo no Takkyubin [Young Witch Kiki’s Express Delivery Service] (1985)
are very near to the spirit of the 1960s in their wit and optimism.
The post-war generation was free of both pre-war didacticism and the rigid idealism of
the 1950s, and they began to enlarge the possibilities of children’s literature. Poppen
Sensei no Nichiôbi [Dr Pitter-Patter’s Strange Sunday] (1973) by Yoshihiko Funazaki
(1945-) is a fantasy of an assistant professor’s experiences in the world of a riddle
picture book. Other promising examples of fantasy are Nonbiri Kobuta to Sekaseka Usagi
[A Carefree Little Pig and a Restless Bunny] (1974) by Tadashi Ozawa (1937-); Kiri no
Mukô no Fushigina Machi [A Wonderful Small Town Beyond the Mist] (1975) by Sachiko
Kashiwaba (1954), and Inemuri Jiizelkâ [A Sleepy Diesel Train] (1977) by Sumiko
Horiuchi.
More mature original fantasies include Noriko Ogiwara’s (1959-) first book, Sorairo
Magatama [Crescent Jade] (1989). Like most works of fantasy in the west, this is a story
of the struggle between light and dark, but it is based on Japanese mythology. (It was
published in the USA as Dragon Sword and Wind Child (1993)). Yoko Tomiyasu’s Kunugi
bayashi no Zawazawaso [The Rustling Apartment in the Oak Wood] (1991) and Katsuno
Shigeta’s Furusato wa Natsu [Father’s Village in Summer] (1991) are pleasant attempts
to create a native animistic world close to the hearts of Japanese readers.
But the richest harvest has been in the fairy tale, thought by some critics to be old-
fashioned, and the foremost writers are Erika Tachihara (1937–), Kimiko Aman (1931-)
830 THE WORLD OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE