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Carp Tales Spring/Summer 2011 1

The SCBWI Tokyo Newsletter

Carp Tales is the bi-‐annual newsletter of the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). The newsletter includes SCBWI Tokyo chapter and member news, upcoming events, a bulletin board of announcements related to writing and illustrating for children in Japan, reports of past events, information on industry trends, interviews with authors and illustrators, and other articles related to children’s literature. To submit inquiries or learn how to contribute to Carp Tales, contact [email protected]. The submission deadline is May 1 for the spring issue and November 1 for the fall issue. All articles and illustrations in Carp Tales are © SCBWI Tokyo and the contributing writers and illustrators. For more information about SCBWI Tokyo, see www.scbwi.jp.

The Carp Tales logo is © Naomi Kojima.

ContentsFrom the Editors ......................................1

SCBWI Tokyo Event Wrap-‐Ups ................2

2011 Sakura Medal Winners Announced ................................3

J-‐Boys: The Story of one MG Novel in Translation ............................................4

Books for Tomorrow Project and other Initiatives for Tohoku ..................... 7

Review of Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure ................................... 9

Of Magatama and Moribito: An Excerpt from the New SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group Blog ............... 10

2011 Asian Festival of Children’s Content ...................................11

Bulletin Board ..........................................14

About SCBWI Tokyo .................................15

From the EditorsSCBWI Tokyo wishes to express condolences to all those who have suffered losses from the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. These have been trying times in Japan, but we are so encouraged by energetic efforts to help those in the affected regions. SCBWI is donating over $3,500 to the Books for Tomorrow Project (Ashita no Hon), and SCBWI Tokyo has raised $500 for Ehon Project Iwate. Both projects are providing book-‐related relief and activities plus mobile libraries to the quake-‐affected areas. Kidlit for Japan, an auction organized by Greg Fishbone who lived in Japan during the Great Hanshin earthquake, raised over $10,000 for Red Cross Japan. SCBWI Tokyo members have donated artwork, writing, and considerable time and money to various relief projects. While we mourn for the losses and devastation up north, we are determined to move forward and help the country heal. More than ever,

Although SCBWI Tokyo suspended activities in March and April, we returned to monthly scheduled events beginning in May. In this issue of Carp Tales we bring you our event wrap-‐ups, a book review, a feature on the unusual collaborative journey to publication for one middle grade book, a recap of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, and announcements of Sakura Medal winners and the new SCBWI Tokyo Translation Blog. We hope you enjoy this issue.

Holly Thompson, Carp Tales Editor, SCBWI Tokyo Regional Advisor

Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu, Carp Tales Assistant Editor

Avery Udagawa, Carp Tales Assistant Editor

Spring/Summer 2011


SCBWI Tokyo Event Wrap-‐Upsby the Editors

Creating Global Children’s Bookswith Author/Illustrator Frané LessacJanuary 28, 2011

Frané Lessac, a self taught artist of “naïve art,” discussed her journey of becoming an author-‐illustrator as well as her journeys to do research with co-‐author and husband, Mark Greenwood. Together, they have created many books. To illustrate their research techniques, she told the story behind the creation of Simpson’s Donkey. Interviewing locals, visiting museums,

associated with the story were among the techniques. Lessac also mentioned details from other books to illustrate how accuracy is vital to adhere to the protocols for producing indigenous Australian literature. She and Mark Greenwood continue to travel and research art and book projects. Details can be found on Lessac’s blog, www.franelessac.com/blog.

Sketch and Word Crawlat the National Museum of Science and Nature, Ueno, TokyoFebruary 27, 2011

On a Sunday afternoon, writers and illustrators gathered at the Museum

then spread throughout the museum. Some headed for particular exhibits like those on the Japanese archipelago, peoples of Japan, dinosaurs, forests, and biodiversity. Others roamed about sketching the visitors to the museum.

Everyone met up after about 75 minutes to share results. Participants had taken many different approaches-‐-‐realist sketches of objects and animals; sketches of children looking at and interacting with the exhibits; sketches or plans of stories that were inspired by exhibits; full drafts of stories for teens; notes for developing story content later; research for works in progress; and more. There was an impressive array of material on the table, and participants agreed that museums are great resources for inspiring story.

and Word Crawl. At the next Crawl, we plan to spend more time sketching and writing before coming together to share results, and we hope to introduce a collaborative element.

Two Artists Two ExpressionsColored Pencil Workshopwith Katsuya Takahashi and Daniel SchallauMay 21, 2011

Katsuya Takahashi (http://homepage3.nifty.com/katz-t/) gave us a hands-‐on workshop in several key colored pencil

of hatching, impressing and burnishing and shared examples of his own work.

Next he guided participants through a series of exercises drawing a simple

instructed on technique and offered color suggestions. Dan Schallau (www.danielschallau.com) focused on winter scenes and explained the many shades of colored pencils he uses to create snow scenes. He then gave participants an outlined scene to color, offering guidance on various effects that can be

emphasize objects in the snow and reveal snow’s many textures. Both

about paper, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, pens and showed their original and published illustrations.

Writers’ Night: Writing for Young Adults with Suzanne Kamata and Holly ThompsonJune 11, 2011

Suzanne Kamata’s short stories for young adults and adults have been widely published. She started the evening with two key points to remember when writing for young adults and then read from samples of YA short stories from different publications. After summarizing some YA plot lines to give attendees an idea of the range that is accepted, Kamata handed out a list of publications that accept YA short stories and answered questions about her writing and publishing experience. SCBWI Regional Advisor and author Holly Thompson started her power point presentation by saying that voice is integral to the plot of a verse novel. She pointed out verse novel types and formats and gave examples of their characteristics. She showed the structure and the internal systems that add to or aid the storytelling then mentioned poetic elements that some verse novelists employ. She read excerpts from many novels including her own, Orchards, and shared titles of numerous verse novels to illustrate the points she presented. Discussion and questions

Frané Lessac and her books

Sharing sketches and writing

L to R: Artwork by Katsuya Takahashi; artwork by Dan Schallau


followed. Links to their work and blogs can be found at their websites: Suzanne Kamata, www.suzannekamata.com; Holly Thompson, www.hatbooks.com.

Discovering PaperTigers,the Online Forum for Multicultural Children’s Literature with Sally ItoJuly 8, 2011

Sally Ito, one of the bloggers for PaperTigers, gave an overview of the

site’s history, its current presence on the web, and its outreach projects. PaperTigers was initially a part of Pacific Rim Voices website which had once been associated with the Kiriyama Prize. The focus of PaperTigers has recently become more centered on the PaperTigers blog and its outreach programs. Bloggers focus on books and materials written about or from Pacific Rim cultures, making recommendations, giving reviews as well as interviews with authors and illustrators. Recent outreach programs include donations of signed books to the auction Kidlit Japan for the East Japan earthquake and tsunami victims, donations of book sets to Pacific Rim schools, and donations of funds to water projects in Haiti and India. PaperTigers, www.papertigers.org, is a rich resource

for those wanting to learn about the world of English-‐language books written about or translated from the Pacific Rim region.

Writers’ Night after party

Sally Ito of PaperTigers

English and Japanese books in four categories were read, reviewed, voted for and awarded the 2011 Sakura Medal by the students of 19 international schools across Japan. Each May, librarians from participating schools select 25 to 30 books for the award process. Schools hold a variety of activities throughout the year to promote this reading program, and

any category are eligible to vote for their favorite.Authors or publishers interested in sending books for the nominating committee should contact Wouter Laleman wlaleman (at) asij.ac.jp. Books should be published within two years of the award selection.

2011 Sakura Medal WinnersPicture Books: The Book That Eats People by John Perry

Chapter Books: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Middle School: Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

High School: The Nest by Paul Jennings

Japanese Picture Books (Tie!): 100 kaidate no ie (The House with 100 Floors) by Toshio Iwai

Japanese Intermediate: Bebeben bentou (All About Bento) by Shinobu Saito and Mushiba ikka no ohikkoshi (Cavity Family on the Move) by Yasuko Hashimoto

Japanese Chapter Books: Chiisana ryu (Little Dragon) by Ruriko Nagai, illustrated by Masami Ogura

Japanese Middle School: Shofukudo no manekineko (The Welcome Cat from Lucky House, Matatabi Travel Series) by Kumiko Moichi, illustrated by Ken Kuroi

Japanese High School: Kamisama no karute (God’s Medical Files) by Sosuke Natsukawa Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu is revising a middle grade novel set in Texas and maintains a photoblog for children, Here and There Japan, www.hereandtherejapan.blogspot.com .

2011 Sakura Medal Winners Announcedby Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu


J-Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965 (Stone Bridge Press, July 2011) is a middle grade novel in linked stories about a nine-‐year-‐old boy growing up in Tokyo in the mid-‐1960s. Written in Japanese for an audience of teens through adults, the book saw a number of changes on its way to publication for the U.S. MG market.

SCBWI Tokyo members Shogo Oketani, Leza Lowitz, and Avery Fischer Udagawa all took part in the process and share here their respective roles.

Shogo Oketani: I am the author of J-Boys, which originally was called only that, with no subtitle. I wrote

(originally entitled “Yoshino Tofu”) around 2002. At that time, I needed to buy a new computer and Leza suggested I write a short story for Wingspanmagazine). If the story were accepted,

We were living in Northern California then, and everyone eats tofu there in every imaginable way. Most Americans think Japanese love tofu, and of course, we do eat a lot of tofu in Japan. But when I was a boy, I hated it.

At the same time, I came across an article about the death of Olympic runner Bob Hayes. I didn’t remember the Tokyo Olympics very well, because I was too young to be very interested in sports when it happened. But a few

years later, when I was around ten or eleven, an older boy told me about Bob Hayes and how fast he’d run in the Olympics. The article jogged my memory of that boy, and I created the character of Kazuo, a boy who hated tofu and wanted to be a good athlete like Bob Hayes.

Also, in the 1960s, there were lots of American cartoons and dramas on Japanese TV every night, and Japanese kids—including me—loved those shows. So, I started writing scenes of 1960s Tokyo through the eyes of a boy

pop culture. I eventually completed

months in the life of eight-‐year-‐old Kazuo and then look into his future.

Leza Lowitz: I am perhaps the “producer” of J-Boysinvolved in 2002 when Matthew

Wingspan, mentioned he was looking for stories. I’d been sending Wingspan stories for years, but they’d never

hiatus, I started again. This time I had better luck, and Matthew said he was looking for more. Shogo and I were struggling freelance writers and translators in California then, and Shogo wanted to buy a new computer. Wingspan paid well, so I told Shogo he should write something and we could translate it together. So we translated “Yoshino Tofu,” changed the title to “The Tofu Master,” and sent it in. To my surprise, it was quickly accepted and published.

Two years later, we moved to Tokyo. The translator Ralph McCarthy came to stay with us, and Shogo, who never talks about what he is working on until it’s done, told Ralph he’d written more Kazuo stories and made a book.

about the collection. Ralph offered to translate another story, but they were handwritten in fountain pen (which

and needed to be typed up. A friend

who was moving to the States needed work, so I hired her to do this. I then emailed them to Ralph, who translated “Minoru Kaneda’s Story.” I changed the title to “A Day and a Half of Freedom” and sent it to Kyoto Journal. After it was published in KJ No. 67, I sent it to Trevor Carolan in Canada, who accepted it for publication in Another Kind of Paradise: Stories from

(Cheng & Tsui). Sending the stories out and having them accepted for publication gave

should be widely read. Though I’d personally felt they were really good, I knew I was probably not the most objective reader, being married to the

coming up, and he hadn’t yet published

give him a special gift, so I asked Joe Zanghi of Printed Matter Press if he could publish a limited edition of the Japanese (six copies). I also decided to take a leap of faith and have the collection translated in its entirety, but as Ralph had just taken on a book-‐length translation for Ryu Murakami, I asked Avery Fischer Udagawa if she was available, and much to our good fortune, she was.

Shogo and I had met Avery a few years before when she’d interviewed us for an article on translation for Kyoto Journal No. 56. Her translations had also appeared alongside my co-‐translations in Inside and Other Short Fiction, an anthology of contemporary Japanese

International. I knew she was an excellent translator. In spring of 2008, she began the full translation of J-Boys.

the translation process, providing feedback and explanation of Avery’s questions to Shogo whenever needed.

December 2008. The following March, Four Stories sponsored a reading in Tokyo, and I read portions of Avery’s translation of “What Wimpy Ate,”

J-‐Boys: The Story of One MG Novel in Translationby Shogo Oketani, Leza Lowitz and Avery Fischer Udagawa

Shogo Oketani


encounter with a hamburger. Shogo answered questions in the Q & A. The audience reaction was very positive, and Shogo’s story was praised in the Daily Yomiuri’s coverage of the event. Around the same time, I pitched the book to Peter Goodman at Stone Bridge Press, and Peter was very enthusiastic in his acceptance of it about a year later, in March 2010.

With the translation complete and the book accepted for publication, another phase

market the book for U.S. readers. It became clear due to feedback from SCBWI Tokyo members Holly Thompson and Suzanne Kamata that with its young narrator and childhood themes, the book should be edited to appeal directly to middle grade readers, with an adult crossover potential. Since I had no experience in the MG or YA genre, I found editor Susan Korman in the SCBWI Publication Guide. Susan had over 20 years experience in the U.S. children’s literature market and had worked as a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, acquiring and editing middle-‐

J-Boys suitable for middle grade readers by changing the age of the main character Kazuo, editing out passages where the awareness was too mature or elegiac for a child, tightening the prose where it was too explanatory, and cutting the last story, which

was essentially a beautiful though

She also shortened the collection to standard MG length by cutting over 20,000 words. Then Shogo, Avery, myself and Peter went through Susan’s edit, restoring various elements and

inadvertently left in the storyline.

After letting that draft sit, I asked a friend, the novelist Deni Béchard, to read through the edited manuscript. Deni line-‐edited and offered further suggestions and revisions for readability. Meanwhile, Peter Goodman suggested adding historical photographs to make the book even more appealing, and I dusted off dozens of Shogo’s family albums from the 1960s in search of possible candidates. While I was doing that, Shogo discovered that Shinagawa Ward had a wonderful archive of historical photographs that were also online, and together we went through hundreds of these images, culling our favorites and sending

our choices to Stone Bridge. Peter suggested adding sidebars to help young readers understand the book’s historical and cultural contexts, so I helped prepare and research those initial drafts as well. I also worked on other aspects of preparing the book for launch, such as writing to authors for blurbs, commissioning a friend in New York to build the J-Boys website (www.j-boysbook.com), working with Shogo and Avery on website content,

and useful author questionnaire Stone Bridge’s publicist Jeanne Platt sent. I will be active in promoting J-Boys with Shogo in giving readings and presentations in the States and in Japan after the book comes out in July.

over a decade, but I wouldn’t have traded a day of it. Though one person might write a book, it takes many people to see it to fruition, and Shogo, plus his main

character Kazuo, were very lucky to have had such a dedicated and visionary team behind J-Boys, guiding it to publication.

Avery Fischer Udagawa: I am the translator of J-Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965contacted me about this book in spring 2008, there were two J-Boys stories available in English: “The Tofu Master” (originally “Yoshino Tofu” and now “The Tofu Maker”), translated by Shogo and Leza, and “A Day and a Half of Freedom” (“Minoru Kaneda’s Story,” now part of “Minoru and the Scrap Cart” and “Kazuo’s Typical Tokyo Saturday”), translated by Ralph McCarthy. I read both of these translations and the full manuscript in Japanese, and quickly realized that J-Boys was a text I could spend time with and return to repeatedly. Shogo’s characters, themes, and heart struck me as something readers of English should experience. I also knew that with him and Leza behind the book, it stood an excellent chance of reaching those readers.

It was not clear from the outset that the target readers included children. When

translating, my goal was not to gear the text to a certain age level but to translate it as what it was, and the original included some observations and events that were rather adult, though the protagonist was a child. Shogo indicated early on that the collection was intended for an audience of teens through adults. As late as summer 2010, a year before publication, I understood that J-Boys was an adult or perhaps a young adult novel. As discussions progressed, however, I learned and grew excited about gearing the book toward MG and up. This ultimately involved making Kazuo a year older; making some of his thoughts younger; altering the look ahead at his future; and shortening the manuscript as a whole.

I played a number of roles in preparing J-Boys beyond translating the original manuscript from spring

Leza Lowitz


through winter 2008. I submitted a translation of the story “Christmas and Report Cards” as an assignment for an MA program of The University of Sheffield, and completed an annotated translation of “Winter Earnings” as my final thesis for the program in June 2009. For “Christmas and Report Cards,” I wrote an introduction of Shogo and J-Boys; for the thesis, I researched the theme of seasonal labor migration (dekasegi) as experienced in growth-‐era Japan and depicted in selected Japanese children’s fiction. Material from my writing about J-Boys for the MA, as well as for several journal submissions that I carried out in consultation with Leza, proved useful in the “pitch” to Stone Bridge Press and/or publicity materials.

After Stone Bridge accepted J-Boys, I played a role in the editorial process. This began with discussions by email about the subtitle and target audience in summer 2010. From fall 2010 through spring 2011, I took part in several thorough editorial passes. The early passes followed up on the major edit by Susan Korman; as the translator, I checked both internal consistency of

original. Later on, the focus broadened to include new elements such as photos, captions, sidebars, and a glossary. I performed several tasks in this phase that I might not have predicted earlier, such as translating captions for photos and suggesting photo placement; checking sidebar text and placement; and sometimes suggesting additional material. As perhaps the closest reader of the original after Shogo, I had lots of ideas that kept Peter busy! I was grateful that all stakeholders got to suggest changes throughout the process, and that Peter, Shogo, and Leza could all read comments that incorporated both English and Japanese.

Besides taking part in the editing, I also assisted with promotion of the book. I read a number of historical MG and YA novels with Asian main characters to learn how J-Boys added

with Shogo, Leza and the publicist,

Jeanne Platt. I drafted endorsement requests to several MG/YA authors, which led to two endorsements that now appear on the J-Boys cover. In addition, I wrote copy for the J-Boys website and sought feedback about educational use of the book at an international school where I live in Thailand. Finally, I made up J-Boys postcards to distribute at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content held in Singapore in May. I am now gathering ideas for a school visit to share about J-Boys and the role(s) of a translator.

J-Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965 is unusual compared with other Japanese MG/YA novels in English translation. Typically, such books are edited and published in Japan before a translation is arranged, and the translator is selected by the English-‐language publisher. With J-Boys, by contrast, the author and his wife commissioned the translation before a publisher was found; they sold directly to an English-‐language publisher; and my translation functioned as the original writing sold to that publisher. The editing was done in English, the target language, not in Japanese. So unlike other books recently published by my colleagues in the SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group, J-Boys is not available in its present form in a Japanese-‐language edition. If readers could compare the original with the English, they might be surprised by the many changes!

That said, I feel the result of the J-Boys process is a book that, while appropriately market-‐focused, remains faithful to the manuscript by Shogo that I received from Leza in March 2008. I am excited, nearly three and a half years later, to see this writing pass into the hands of readers. I am also pleased, as a translator, to have gained this look at publishing for MG readers and up.

Shogo Oketani is author of Cold River (in Japanese; poems), co-author of Designing with Kanji: For Surface, Skin and Spirit , and co-translator of America and Other Poems by Nobuo Ayukawa, for which he received the

Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Award and an NEA grant. His work has also appeared in Language for A New Century (W.W. Norton), The Poetry of Men’s Lives (University of Georgia Press), Manoa, The Poem Behind the Poem: On Translating Asian Poetry (Copper Canyon Press), and The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature. He and Lowitz are completing a YA novel about a female ninja. His website is www.j-‐boysbook.com .

Leza Lowitz is an award-winning writer, editor, screenwriter and co-translator. Her work has appeared in

, Shambhala Sun and The Best Buddhist Writing of 2011. She has published over 16 books, including the newly released Yoga Heart: Lines on the Six Perfections (Stone Bridge Press). Her awards include the PEN Josephine Miles Award, a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, grants from the NEA and NEH, and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature from Columbia University. She can be reached at www.lezalowitz.com.

Avery Fischer Udagawa grew up in Kansas and lives with her Japanese/American family in an international school community near Bangkok. J-‐Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965 is her first book-length translation. Her writing has appeared in Kyoto Journal and Literary Mama . See averyfischerudagawa.com .

Avery Fischer Udagawa


Books for Tomorrow Project and Other Initiatives for Tohokuby Holly Thompson

On July 3, I attended the event Charity Lectures: Writers Talk about the 3/11 Disaster and the Books for Tomorrow Project. The Books for Tomorrow Project (in Japanese あしたの本) is a joint initiative by the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), Japan P.E.N. Club, the Japan Publishers Club (JPC), and the Japan Publishing Foundation for (JPIC). The mission of the Books for Tomorrow Project is to support children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami through books. As stated on the JBBY website, “By working to put books in the hands of children, the Books for Tomorrow Project seeks to provide sources of comfort and enjoyment that will bolster their strength as they cope with the fears, anxieties, and uncertainties they face. The project involves a variety of activities centered on books and book-‐related programs.” SCBWI is generously donating funds to this project thanks to an SCBWI Regional Relief Grant and fundraising efforts by the Illinois and Eastern Pennsylvania SCBWI chapters in the U.S.

The Charity Lectures event was held in Tokyo in conjunction with

the exhibition of children’s book illustrations for the Books for Tomorrow Charity Auction (www.jbby.org/ae/category/auction/?lang=en). Before and after the event, participants wandered through the gallery area viewing donated artwork, still open to bidding online. There are so many great illustrations in this auction, including several donated by SCBWI Tokyo members.

The talks were moderated by Akira Nogami, director of the

speaker was International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) president, Ahmad Redza Ahmad Khairuddin, visiting Japan for a week and on his way up to Tohoku. He mentioned that the Books for

the fact that often the best of people comes to the surface in bad times.

Following Ahmad Redza, Eiko Kadono, author of Majo no takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service),

spoke of her experience reading to children in Tohoku. She also recalled her return to Tokyo a couple years after the end of World War II and how on her arrival in Akihabara destruction was still evident everywhere. She likened the landscapes of the tsunami-‐hit coasts of Tohoku to post-‐war Japan. She urged us each to take responsibility to help Japan forward.

Sachiko Kashiwaba, author of Dai obasan no fushigina reshipi (Great Aunt’s Mysterious Recipes) and many other titles, described the frightening night of 3/11 in Iwate, and the fear and worry that day for all the people living on the coast. She talked of later meeting with teachers and the principal of a school in a tsunami-‐hit town, of listening to their

L to R:Books for Tomorrow’s Mobile Library ; Author Eiko Kadono has a closer look

© Paul Richardson


harrowing tales of escape, and of the monumental challenge of helping children process their experiences when there are so few counselors in Tohoku. She urged people to visit and support Iwate and other prefectures of Tohoku.

Author Jun Saito spoke about the Ehon Project Iwate (www.ehonproject.org/iwate/e/index.html) begun by children’s book editor and founder of Suemori Books, Chieko Suemori. He explained that the call for books led to mountains of donated books and that now the task lies in delivering them via their mobile libraries. Manga artist Machiko Satonaka talked of the desire to help through manga and the resulting Manga Japan group’s charity auction (http://topic.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/charity/2011sanrikuoki_ms/post_34/index.html in Japanese). Atsuo Nakamura, actor and writer lamented the destruction to the environment through nuclear power dependency and the unfortunate manner in which

dangers have been hidden from people in Japan.

Wrapping up the event, novelist Eto Mori shared her struggle to discover what she could do to help. She recalled being asked to write pieces immediately after the earthquake, but she explained that authors are the people walking behind everyone else, the ones left pondering after everyone else has left the scene, and that she needed time to process the disaster. She went to Tohoku to volunteer but was discouraged that she didn’t have more physical strength for clean-‐up operations. She came to realize there were other ways she could help and decided to focus on rescuing pets from the affected areas.

After the talks, participants were invited to view the Books for Tomorrow mobile library (toshokan basu), which heads up to Tohoku this month. I chatted with Kiyoshi Nakaizumi of JPIC beside the

bus, decorated with fair-‐weather clouds and favorite children’s book characters. He said that they would first take this mobile library to the hard-‐hit cities of Rikuzentakata, in Iwate Prefecture, and Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture.

The Books for Tomorrow Project welcomes monetary donations. For those in Japan see JBBY’s Books for Tomorrow Donating Funds page (www.jbby.org/ae/donating-funds/?lang=en) and for those outside Japan see the IBBY Appeal for Japan page (www.ibby.org/index.php?id=1193).

Holly Thompson is the SCBWI Tokyo Regional Advisor and author of the YA verse novel Orchards , the picture book The Wakame Gatherers, and the novel Ash . She is the editor of the forthcoming Tomo: Stories to Help and Heal , an anthology of YA Japan-related fiction to benefit teens in the earthquake and tsunami affected areas of Tohoku.

Featured SCBWI Tokyo Member Illustrators in this Issue

Paul Richardson is a Los Angeles-‐born artist. He was schooled in Pasadena, California, and at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago and is now settled down living and working in Japan. Visit his website: www.pcstudio.me

Izumi Tanaka was raised in Nagasaki and practiced Japanese traditional goache painting at classes in Kawasaki while raising her two children. She loves to draw children, animals and plants. Fascinated by Japanese mythology, she has been working on a picture book on the Kojiki, Japan’s earliest chronicle. She is the exhibit coordinator for the SCBWI Tokyo Illustrators Exhibition 2011. Visit her website: http://izumi-‐picturebooks.jimdo.com

© Izumi Tanaka


Review of

by James Scott BellReviewed by Claire Dawn

In Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure, James Scott Bell promises:

Techniques for crafting strong beginnings, middles, and endsEasy-‐to-‐understand plotting diagrams and chartsBrainstorming techniques for original plot ideasThought-‐provoking exercises at the end of each chapterStory structure models and methods for all genresTips and tools for correcting common plot problems

And he delivers!

Bell begins the book by illustrating the LOCK system. Basically, a good plot consists of taking an interesting character (Lead), giving him something to go after (Objective), putting something in his way (Confrontation), and then delivering a powerful, satisfying ending (Knockout). I loved that Bell’s plot method considers the main character early on. I have read other theorists who seem to separate plot and character, but to my mind, one can’t develop without the other. Even when you consider crime novels and procedurals, novels heavy on plot twists, they often have a well-‐loved character at the fore. Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, Horatio in CSI, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, Veronica Mars, Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes are just a few examples.

Bell goes on to highlight the three-‐act

structure, asserting that even daily life unfolds in this manner: “We get up in the morning and get ready to go to work. We work or do whatever we do. Eventually we wrap up the day’s business and hit the sack.”

From this point, Bell takes us through the plot progress chronologically from idea through beginning, middle and end. He shows what is important at each stage of the game. He acknowledges the two camps of writers: plotters (outline people or OPs) or pantsers (no outline people or NOPs), mentioning the plot issues that can be inherent in their work: lack of spontaneity and lack of cohesion. He takes a few pages to discuss plotting methods for pantsers, who are largely ignored in most plotting discussions, before showing a plethora of methods for plotters. Then he goes on to offer suggestions for revision.

Throughout the book, Bell offers examples from his own work, contemporary best sellers, and the classics. He tends towards thrillers and crime novels, but he also points out plot and structure in books such as The Wizard of Oz and movies like It Happened One Night.

Bell wraps up the book with lists of common plot types with examples, plot problems and their solutions, and tips and tools for plot and structure.

Even the appendices to this book are handy, with Appendix A being

a checklist of important points the book makes, and Appendix B being a cover copy exercise aimed at helping to streamline your novel.

Overall, Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure was a useful addition to my writing craft library, providing implementable advice in a down-‐to-‐earth manner while still being palatable. It’s a book I’d recommend to anyone who, like me, struggles with plot and structure, or on the other

Claire Dawn is a YA writer from Barbados who currently lives in Iwate.

in the CLAIR Forum, Write for Tohoku, and JET Journal 2009. She blogs online at http://aclairedawn.blogspot.com and amuses herself by compiling a list of 100 books every writer should read.


Of Magatama and Moribito: An Excerpt from the New SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group BlogEditors’ note: For several years, SCBWI Tokyo has hosted an email listserv for published and aspiring translators of Japanese

-tion Day was held in June 2010. Now, the SCBWI Tokyo translator members have launched a blog—SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group: Japanese Children’s Literature in English— viewable at http://ihatov.wordpress.com. This blog offers posts on the craft and business of translating Japanese children’s and teen literature, and currently highlights the children’s literature and culture of Tohoku in the wake of the March 2011 disasters.

Below is an excerpt from a May 24 blog post by Alexander O. Smith, which consists of an interview with Cathy Hirano, trans-lator most recently of Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince, the second volume in the Tales of the Magatama series by Noriko Ogiwara (VIZ Media). Hirano has also translated the Batchelder Award-winning novel Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi and its sequel, Guardian of the Darkness (Arthur A. Levine Books). Below, Smith asks Hirano about differences between translating the books in these two series. To read the full, in-depth interview, please visit the SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group Blog.

Alexander O. Smith: The Magatama and the Moribito series which you also worked on are interesting to me

a very Western Fantasy genre and yet their stories and worlds are

myth. How did you navigate the process of bringing these worlds into

of the original? Were you inspired, stylistically or otherwise, by any other books in English?

Cathy Hirano: A hard question! For me, it’s a very intuitive process and I’m never sure if I really have succeeded in

thing I try to do is read the translation out loud once I get it to a more polished state. That helps me see whether it “feels” the same. What I’m looking for at a gut level is whether the English grabs me in the same way as the Japanese. To me, Uehashi’s voice is fast-‐paced, powerful, compassionate, clear and deceptively simple. Ogiwara’s voice, though just as powerful, is completely different. Her rich, lyrical images and sweeping descriptions vividly convey the emotional atmosphere. She has a knack for capturing a focal point or detail that draws in the reader and for mirroring the inner worlds of her characters’ minds and hearts in the outer world. However, this style, which is very Japanese, is less compatible with the English language than Uehashi’s. To give one example, Uehashi’s battle scenes are graphically detailed. You know exactly when and how each bone is broken, whose bone it is and what it

feels like (ouch!!). This brings home the reality of life for the bodyguard Balsa.

Ogiwara’s battle scenes, in contrast, convey the emotional intensity of the moment but the smaller details are rather blurred, as if viewed through the subjective lens of a particular character’s mind. At one crucial point, for example, I knew that the heroine, Toko, had stabbed someone but it wasn’t until I tried to translate that part that I realized this fact is not actually stated. Her intent to stab him and subsequently the fact that a knife is protruding from the person’s side are there but not the act itself. In Japanese, readers easily connect these dots but in English, they don’t. So as the translator I had to decide when this act actually takes place and how to convey it without losing the tone.

The Moribito world was, in one way, much easier to render in English than the Magatama world simply because Uehashi invented it from scratch. This means that the Japanese readership is just as unfamiliar with it as the English readership so the descriptions Uehashi provides are thorough enough for everyone to follow regardless of their cultural background. While the positioning of these details sometimes

occasionally requiring relocation in consultation with the author and the English-‐language editor, translating the cultural context into English was not a problem. In contrast, the Magatama books draw on ancient Japanese myths: Dragon Sword and Wind Child (2007) on the ancient

Japanese creation myths and Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince (2011) on the tale of Yamato Takeru, a legendary Japanese hero of the 4th century. To the Japanese reader, these tales and their setting are familiar territory but for English readers they are not. A single word in Japanese can conjure up a hairstyle (mage), clothing (mo), building (miya) or social status (osa) for which no English equivalents exist. Because no explanation is provided in the Japanese, the translation required a hefty amount of background research into the tales’ historical and cultural context and plenty of agonizing over how much of that information was needed for an English speaker and how to unobtrusively convey the essentials.

As for what books inspired me during the translation process, I actually

by other authors so that I can remain true to the original. At the same time, however, I do read books in the same genre because exposure to good English helps me avoid an excessively literal translation. While translating the Moribito books I found myself rereading Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea series. I think what appealed was their common themes such as the search for meaning, the painful journey of self discovery and acceptance, and the fact that their voices both evoke the oral tradition of story-‐telling. When translating Ogiwara, on the other hand, I was drawn to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Again, it wasn’t the style but the story’s epic nature and the use of humor to lighten a serious tale that resonated.


Holly Thompson, Author

The 2011 AFCC conference sessions were held at the 200-‐year-‐old Arts

AFCC is the brainchild of Dr. R Ramachandran in particular, and the conference has developed rapidly over the past two year thanks to the hard work of many individuals.On the evening before the conference I enjoyed the kickoff panel presentation on the Kidlitosphere and YA Blogosphere with the amazing trio of Tarie Sabido (Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind: asiaintheheart.blogspot.com) Myra Garces-‐Bacsal (Gathering Books: http://main.gatheringbooks.org) and Corinne Robson (PaperTigers: http://papertigers.org). How great to meet these bloggers in person!SCBWI is one of the supporting organizations of AFCC, and this year SCBWI President Stephen Mooser gave the opening keynote of the conference in the lofty parliament chamber. He also presented Writing for Boys and served on the First Pages panel.At AFCC, I gave two presentations, one on author/illustrator school visits, and the other on writing fiction for young adults. In addition, I moderated sessions by author Christopher Cheng, author/illustrator YangSook Choi, and

editor Neal Porter. Unfortunately, sessions for authors and illustrators were squeezed into only two days this year, so I missed out on presentations I would have liked to attend that were concurrent with mine, or those I was moderating.SCBWI members gathered for a meeting and dinner one evening, and this was a great opportunity to get to know members from some of the newer and rapidly growing SCBWI regions in Asia.

(www.scholasticbookaward.asia) was announced at AFCC 2011; the winner was Uma Krishnaswami, for her novel Book Uncle and Me. The President of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste also gave a special lecture and introduced Luis Soriano Bohorquez of Biblioburro, who started a traveling library with donkeys in Columbia.AFCC 2011 is a conference with tremendous potential. I hope that in 2012 the sessions for authors and illustrators can be spread over three days as they were in 2010 rather than two days as they were this year. I so value the friendships begun at this conference; the connections made; the information, techniques and tips shared; and above all the strong underlying belief in books from and about Asia.Holly Thompson is author of the YA verse novel Orchards and the picture book The Wakame Gatherers. See www.hatbooks.com.

Trevor Kew, Author

This year’s AFCC had some great ideas, particularly the First Pages sessions in which conference attendees

of a work in progress to be analyzed and evaluated by a panel of experts.

and frank feedback from the panel members, I sincerely wished that I’d submitted something!

I also attended productive sessions on Exploring History through Children’s Literature (Dianne Wolfer); the Global Market for Asian Children’s Books (Neal Porter); and the Children’s Market: What has Changed and What Sells Now (Kelly Sonnack). I felt there could have been more actual “Asian content” at times, as there did seem to be a rather heavy focus on the American market, although perhaps this is a consequence of the realities of the book business. One aspect of the conference that I really valued was meeting several people who have worked in children’s literature for thirty years or more. With all of the huge changes that will inevitably challenge authors in future, it was reassuring to hear from experienced writers and publishers about the changes that have happened over the course of their own careers and how they have managed to adapt, learn and continue to move forward.

2011 Asian Festival of Children’s Content:

Kenneth Quek, SCBWI Singapore Regional Advisor; Jade Yong, National Book Development Council of Singpore; R Ramachandran, AFCC Festival Director; Kathleen Ahrens, SCBWI International Regional Advisor Chairperson

Tarie Sabido, Myra Garces-Bacsal, Corinne Robson

First Pages Panel Critiques with moderator Kathleen Ahrens, SCBWI International Regional Advisor Chairperson; Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency; Stephen Mooser, SCBWI President; Sayoni Basu, Scholastic India


And of course, Singapore is always a good time!Trevor Kew is author of the YA novels Trading Goals and Sidelined. Visit his blog http://trevorkew.wordpress.com

Naomi Kojima, Author/IllustratorI attended the AFCC this year again, excited to be immersed in the joyful spirit of last year’s conference, and to enjoy the diversity and beauty of Singapore. The two days were packed with sessions on children’s books, and many times I wished I had two or three bodies to attend sessions being offered at the same time. It was good to see friends from last year, and it was fun to be in Singapore with SCBWI Tokyo friends, being able to share the AFCC experience together. This year lunch was served to all participants at the conference, and this turned out to be a good time to meet new people and to renew friendships. On day one I attended The Global Market for Asian Children’s Books: What Travels, What Doesn’t (Neal Porter), Mythical Stories and Images of Asia (YangSook Choi), On Fairies, Mousedeers, Merpeople and Magic Spells—Threads that Bind Children’s Tales from Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia (Rhoda Myra Garces-‐Bacsal), A Book Reviewer Speaks: Trends in Children’s Literature in America (Liz Rosenberg), and Of Power and Emotions: Writing Fiction

for Young Adults (Holly Thompson).In the session On Fairies, Mousedeers, Merpeople, and Magic Spells, Rhoda Myra Garces-‐Bacsal presented her research of folktales and mythology of the four countries. It was interesting to learn the unique cultural elements and the commonalities and divergences, and how characterization of children, family values, aspirations and dreams

folktales of each country. Oft found themes in Singapore folktales are rules and punishment; premium on obedience; and communal pride and shame. In the Philippines common themes are comeuppance for a misdeed; repentance; and winds, rains and typhoons. For Malaysia and Indonesia common themes are elevation of the lowly and the bleak and the underdog.

of Creating Your Own Storyboard (YangSook Choi); Turning Life Experience into Fiction (Diane Wolfer); Asian Markets and Experiences (Sayoni Basu, India; Le Phuong Lies, Vietnam; Linda Tan, Malaysia); The Children’s Market: What Has Changed and What Sells Now (Kelly Sonnack); and Evoking Imagination in Illustration and Animation Films (Nina Sabnani). YangSook Choi was reassuring and powerful in her workshop on Creating Your Storyboard. “Do not underestimate the power of the illustrator,” she said. “Visual is a

powerful communicator,” “The illustrator’s job is to minimize words,” “Your job is to make people’s imagination come alive.” I was sorry I could not stay for the entire three-‐hour workshop.Asian Markets and Experiences was exactly the kind of presentation I was hoping to hear at the conference. The three panelists, Le Phuong Lien, Head of Children’s Literature at the Vietnamese Writer’s Association, Sayoni Basu, Publishing Director at Scholastic India, and Linda Tan Lingard of Yusof Gagah Lingard Literary Agency Malaysia each presented the history and their knowledge of their individual domestic markets.The very last session of the conference I attended left me in awe. In Evoking Imagination in Illustration and Animation Films, animator and

her new book Home, a stand-‐up book, which unfolds visual narratives like multiple windows on a computer. The Kaavad, a portable wooden shrine used by traditional storytellers in Rajasthan, India, was the inspiration for Nina’s new book. Nina had done extensive research on the Kaavad, visiting villages where families for many generations have been storytellers.

Kaavad, which was itself a piece of art.Again the AFCC opened windows into

with inspiration and hope, refreshed and ready to work on new books.Naomi Kojima is author/illustrator of the picture book Utau Shijimi (Kaisei-sha) and translator of the Japanese edition of Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom (Kaisei-sha).

Avery Fischer Udagawa, TranslatorWhat can a translator learn at a conference on children’s content with tracks on writing and illustration, publishing, media, and primary and preschool education? Plenty, I learned at AFCC 2011.

SCBWI members from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, the U.S., Australia, and Canada


This conference provided a helpful overview of English-‐language markets for children’s literature, particularly the U.S. markets. Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency presented two info-‐packed sessions on trends in U.S. children’s publishing and the process of marketing children’s books in New York, “from cradle to grave.” Neal Porter of Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Roaring Books Press, walked an audience through the pre-‐publication phases of two recent, acclaimed picture books. Liz Rosenberg, children’s literature reviewer for the Boston Globe, spoke about titles from Asia that work in the U.S. A keynote address by Stephen Mooser, president of SCBWI, surveyed the future of children’s publishing.Other presentations at AFCC 2011

of the world of children’s content. Author Christopher Cheng spoke about storybook “apps”; author Ken Spillman spoke about engaging boys with books. In a session designed for educators, professor Susan Harris-‐

Staples discussed imparting language knowledge through storybooks, and storyteller Kiran Shah performed a version of Stone Soup. Seeing stories read and performed reminded me of our ultimate purpose: to engage and delight young readers.Certain sessions at the AFCC provided content of immediate use to me as a translator. Holly Thompson’s talk on school visits left me with a list of ideas to use as I propose talks at an international school about my first novel translation. A session called First Pages for Authors gave me the chance to have 100 words of a new translation critiqued by an agent, an editor, and an author (I write about this experience in the “Three Readers, One Hundred Words” post on the SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group blog: http://ihatov.wordpress.com). The Q & A at one of Sonnack’s sessions allowed me to ask a question

about agent-‐translator relationships. In addition, I learned about the SCBWI Work-‐in-‐Progress Grants at an SCBWI Asia Pacific Dinner, and grew inspired to submit a manuscript for the Scholastic Asian Book Award, presented at the conference.Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the AFCC was the opportunity to network, meeting established and aspiring creators of children’s content and sharing our stories, postcards, and business cards. I also had fun catching up with three other members of SCBWI Tokyo. I highly recommend AFCC to other Japanese-‐to-‐English translators, as a way of making connections, soaking up inspiration, and gaining a broad understanding of our target markets. Avery Fishcer Udagawa is the translator of J-‐Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965 by Shogo Oketani (Stone Bridge Press). See .

Christopher Cheng on apps

SCBWI Tokyo members Naomi Kojima, Holly Thompson, Avery Udagawa and Trevor Kew at AFCC

Miki Bromhead is a graphic designer, avid reader and cupcake enthusaist. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she currently resides in Saitama, Japan with her Australian husband.While working full time as an art director for Moonshoot, a company which hosts an internet game

(mahogarden.jp) aimed at teaching English to young children, she also provides most of the graphics for the Duquesne Brewing Company (www.facebook.com/duquesnebeer) located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Follow her on Twitter @VengroFor enquiries about graphic design work: miki.bromhead (at) gmail.com

About the Newsletter Designer

© Miki Bromhead


SCBWI Tokyo Member News

Bulletin Board

Suzanne Kamata’s story “Dolphin Day” was published in the July/August 2011 issue of Ladybug. Her YA short story “The Beautiful One Has Come” appeared in the May/June 2011 issue of Cicada.

Trevor Kew’s third novel, Breakaway, will be published by Lorimer & Co.,Toronto, August 15, 2011.

Naomi Kojima’s translation of Dear Genius, Densetsu no Henshusha Nordstrom; America Jidosho no Butaiura was reviewed by picture book artist Gomi Taro on July 16, 2011, in a popular TV series “Weekly Book Review” on NHK BS Premium. The Japanese edition was also featured in the August 1 issue of PEN magazine in the main article “Letters that Shook Hearts.”

Shogo Oketani’s J-‐Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965 translated by SCBWI member Avery Fischer Udagawa has been released by Stone Bridge Press, July 2011.

Dan Schallau’s picture book, Come Back SoonChinese and published in the mainland China market. Publication will be 18 months from signing.

Teri Suzanne’s art will be exhibited from August 22 at Hair Salon Agee in Daikanyama.

Izumi Tanaka was awarded an SCBWI RA Scholarship to attend the 40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles August 5-‐8.

Holly Thompson’s novel Orchards was published by Delacorte/Random House in February. She will edit Tomo: Japan Stories to Help and Heal

Avery Fischer Udagawa translated two essays for and copyedited Kamishibai Newsletter Vol. 7, the annual English-‐language journal of the International Kamishibai Association of Japan. Her May interview with novelist Clare Vanderpool, winner of the 2011 Newbery Medal for Moon over Manifest, appears at . Her translation of SCBWI member Shogo Oketani’s J-‐ Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965, has been released by Stone Bridge Press, July 2011.

Bologna Illustrators Exhibition is now at the Itabashi Art Museum in Tokyo until August 14 then will travel to art museums in various regions of Japan. The itinerary is organized in collaboration with JBBY (Japanese Board on Books for Young People) and can be found at www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/mostraillustratori/mondo

The 2011 SCBWI Tokyo Illustrators Exhibition will be held at Galerie Malle in Ebisu, Tokyo from September 6–11, 2011. Illustrators Akira Hamano, Michael Kloran, Naomi Kojima, John Kolosowski, Midori Mori, Shohei Nishihara, Paul Richardson, Daniel Schallau, Izumi Tanaka, Kazuko Unosawa and Yoko Yoshizawa will be featured. See http://galeriemalle.jp/

The Fifth Annual Japan Writers Conference will be in Kobe this year at Kobe Shoin Women’s University on October 15–16, 2011. Information is at www.japanwritersconference.org/

40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference on Writing and Illustrating for Children will be held August 5–8, 2011, in Los Angeles, California. See www.scbwi.org/Conference.aspx?Con=8

28th Nissan Children’s Storybook and Picture Book Grand Prix is open to aspiring writers. Deadline is October 31, 2011. Details in Japanese only can be found at www.nissan-‐global.com/EN/NEWS/2011/_STORY/110704-‐01-‐e.html?rss

Scholastic Asia Book Award is accepting submissions for the 2012 award. The deadline for submissions is October 17, 2011. See http://www.scholasticbookaward.asia/

Tomo: Japan Stories to Help and Heal is a benefit anthology of YA Japan-‐related fiction to be published by Stone Bridge Press in Spring 2012. The deadline for submissions is August 15, 2011. See http://tomoanthology.blogspot.com for details and guidelines.


About SCBWI Tokyo

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustratorswww.scbwi.org

information and community to illustrators and writers of children’s and young adult literature in Japan. Holly Thompson is Regional Advisor; Yoko Yoshizawa is Assistant Regional Advisor and Illustrator Coordinator; the SCBWI Tokyo Advisory Committee includes Miki Bromhead, Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu, Patrick Gannon, Suzanne Kamata, Naomi Kojima, Midori Mori, Gerri Sorrells, Teri Suzanne, Izumi Tanaka, and Avery Fischer Udagawa.

WebsiteThe SCBWI website www.scbwi.jp features information about SCBWI Tokyo, an online gallery, a speakers directory, a member books section, FAQs, a volunteer page, listserv information, useful links for writers and illustrators, announcements of upcoming SCBWI Tokyo events, and this newsletter. Bookmark the site!

VolunteersSCBWI Tokyo is run by volunteers and always needs your help! Volunteers make SCBWI Tokyo an important and vibrant chapter of SCBWI. Volunteers can help in many ways: with their time at actual events, by helping to plan events, by assisting with translation, and by writing articles or conducting interviews for the SCBWI Tokyo newsletter Carp Tales. For further information, contact [email protected].

SCBWI Tokyo ListservsSCBWI Tokyo maintains two main listservs (e-‐mail groups): one in English and one in Japanese. These networks link members and supporters of SCBWI across Japan in active online communities. Members of the listservs receive up-‐to-‐date information on SCBWI Tokyo and announcements of events, and share news related to writing, illustrating and publishing for children. Everyone is welcome to post comments and questions of interest to the SCBWI Tokyo community. Membership in the listservs is open to both members and non-‐members of SCBWI. For details, e-‐mail [email protected].

SCBWI Tokyo Online Critique GroupCritique groups provide support, encouragement, motivation and marketing suggestions. The SCBWI Tokyo Online Critique Group is for SCBWI Tokyo members who are serious writers and writer/illustrators working on children’s or young adult literature who would like to share their work with other writers for constructive feedback online. At this time all manuscripts must be posted in English; a Japanese-‐language critique group may open soon. SCBWI Tokyo members interested in joining should contact [email protected].

SCBWI Tokyo Translation GroupThe SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group is for members and nonmembers involved in translating children’s and young adult literature from Japanese into English. The Translation Group’s listserv is a forum for discussing issues

events, online critiquing, and marketing of translations. Contact [email protected] for an invitation.

MembershipMembership in SCBWI Tokyo is included in general SCBWI membership. To join SCBWI, visit the main SCBWI website at www.scbwi.org and click on About SCBWI. Payment can be made online, by post with a U.S. bank-‐

eligibility for grants, free posting of illustrations and publicity of published books on the SCBWI Tokyo website (www.scbwi.jp), discounted admission to SCBWI events and conferences, and much more.

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