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Junko Morimoto Junko Morimoto i(A45631 works by)
Born: Established: 1932 Hiroshima, Honshu,
c
Japan,
c
East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
;
Gender: Female
Arrived in Australia: 1982
Heritage: Japanese
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BiographyHistory

Junko Morimoto, author, illustrator and Sumi brush painting artist, graduated from Kyoto University of Fine Arts with a major in Western Art. She was art director of the Children's Art studio in Osaka from 1965 to 1971. As well as participating in major art exhibitions in Japan, Morimoto organised the International Children's Exchange Art Exhibition in Osaka with people from many countries including Australia.

Emigrating to Australia in 1982, Morimoto has illustrated many children's picture books, several of which have won awards.

Among her works are My Hiroshima (1987), which recounts her childhood experiences of being in Hiroshima when it was bombed, and The White Crane (1983) which tells of a childless Japanese couple who unexpectedly acquire a daughter after they have rescued a white crane. The White Crane was commended in the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award (Picture Book of the Year) for 1984, and has been translated into several languages.

More recently, Morimoto illustrated Run Damon, Run! (2000), which was written by Anne Bower Ingram and was set in Greece, and The Two Bullies (1997), translated from the original Japanese, which was awarded the 1998 Children's Book of the Year Award (Picture Book).

Morimoto has contributed to exhibitions of her work on numerous occasions in Australia, Japan and Italy. She is also a calligrapher, and she produced the cover art and calligraphy for Canadian author Eleanor Coerr's Mieko and the Fifth Treasure.

Morimoto is the mother of Isao Morimoto.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Two Bullies Milsons Point : Random House Australia , 1997 Z834226 1997 single work picture book children's fable 'Ni-ou is the strongest fellow in Japan. No one can beat him. But that's not enough. When he hears that there is a strong man called Dokkoi in China, Ni-ou wants to beat him too. So he goes looking for a fight.' (Source: Back cover)
1998 winner CBCA Book of the Year Awards Picture Book of the Year
1997 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
y separately published work icon Kojuro and the Bears Sydney : Collins , 1987 Z832720 1987 single work picture book children's This story describes the hardships and sorrows of a bear hunter. Kojuro comes to regret that he must kill the bears in order to make a living. Eventually, the wheel turns and his life is ended by a bear. (Source:From the book)
1987 winner CBCA Book of the Year Awards Picture Book of the Year
y separately published work icon A Piece of Straw Sydney : Collins , 1985 Z830941 1985 single work picture book children's fable Yohei was a kind but poor man who went every day to pray at the shrine. On the hundredth day the wind blew and told Yohei to take heed of that which first came to mind. As he left the shrine Yohei fell down. As he was getting up he noticed that he was holding a piece of straw. He tied a horsefly to the end and continued on his way. He swapped the straw for two mandarines then swapped those for two rolls of silk and so on until he eventually swapped a horse for a house and land belonging to a Samurai who had been summoned urgently to the Emperor. Yohei and his new wife threw a party for all the villagers to celebrate their good fortune.(Source: From Book)
1986 highly commended CBCA Book of the Year Awards Picture Book of the Year
Last amended 8 Nov 2017 12:47:21
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