Florence Sakade (1917-1999) is widely recognized as a pioneer of English language publishing in Japan. She was an experienced editor and the author/compiler of such favorites as
A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese,
Origami: Japanese Paper Folding, and
Japanese Children's Favorite Stories. Her distinguished career spanned four decades, and she worked until her death in 1999 at the age of 82.
One of the most popular children's book illustrators of his time,
Yoshio Hayashi (1905-2010) was among the artists who founded the Japan Children's Painting Association in 1961. He served as director of the Artist Copyright Federation of Japan and the Japan Art Association.