Legends and Folklore: Author KASHIWABA Sachiko talk Japanese Children’s Literature with Rui Umezawa

The Japan Foundation, Toronto is pleased to invite you to a special, in-person event featuring KASHIWABA Sachiko, celebrated writer of Japanese children’s and young adult fiction. Ms. Kashiwaba will sit down with Canadian author Rui Umezawa to discuss Japanese folklore, the importance of passing down cultural stories, differences between traditional tales and modern fantasy stories, and much more! The speakers will discuss Temple Alley Summer (2021), the first of Ms. Kashiwaba’s novels to be translated into English and the winner of the 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Award, as well as other works Ms. Kashiwaba hopes to introduce to the English readership. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask Ms. Kashiwaba their own questions during the Q+A.

Ms. Kashiwaba is a guest author at the 2022 Toronto International Festival of Authors. Click here for more author details and TIFA related event info.

KASHIWABA Sachiko is a prolific writer of children’s and young adult fantasy whose career spans more than four decades. Her works have garnered the prestigious Sankei, Shogakukan, and Noma children’s literature awards, and her novel The Marvelous Village Veiled in Mist influenced Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away. Her books for children include the Monster Hotel series, Great-Aunt’s Amazing Recipes, Miracle Family, The What’s-Next Library, Temple Alley Summer, The Witch Who Loved the King, and Strange Journey from the Basement, lately animated as The Wonderland. She has co-translated two fairy novels by Gail Carson Levine into Japanese, and she edited a children’s version of the Tōno monogatari, beloved folk legends collected by Kizen Sasaki and Kunio Yanagita. She lives in Iwate Prefecture.

*Jocelyne Allen will act as interpreter for Ms. Kashiwaba.

Rui Umezawa is a Toronto writer whose books include the novel The Truth About Death and Dying, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize for Best First Book (Canada and the Caribbean), and Strange Light Afar; Tales of the Supernatural from Old Japan, chosen by the CBC as one of the best books of 2015. His essays and short fiction have appeared in such publications as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Canadian Notes and Queries. He is also a storyteller who has recounted traditional and original tales in front of live audiences with the Katari Japanese Storytellers and in collaborations with the acclaimed Nagata Shachu taiko ensemble.

RELATED PROGRAMMING:

JFT Book Club Online: Temple Alley Summer by KASHIWABA Sachiko
Thursday, September 15, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM (EDT) | Details and registration >
For the upcoming JFT Book Club Online, we will discuss KASHIWABA Sachiko’s Temple Alley Summer (帰命寺横丁の夏), a sweet and imaginative ghost story full of mystery, traditions, and the fantastical. Please email the library at library@jftor.org to reserve your seat.

The House of the Lost on the Cape – Film Screening
Saturday, September 24, 7:00 PM (EDT) | Details and tickets >

17-year-old run-away Yui and 8-year-old Hiyori, who lost her family and her voice, have no place to go when they run into Kiwa, a strange old lady. She offers them a place to stay, in a slightly banged-up old house overlooking the sea, a Mayoiga. Despite joining Kiwa on a whim, the two girls find comfort in Mayoiga, a legendary house, said to look after lost travelers, and the warm hospitality of Kiwa. Both girls’ damaged hearts begin to heal little by little. Until one day, a variety of strange beings which Kiwa calls “Fushigitto” begin popping up around the house.

Author KASHIWABA Sachiko will be in-attendance for a Q&A after the screening.

Co-presented with the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library