Nakagawa Rieko, the author of “Guri and Gura” and other popular children’s books, has died at the age of 89.
Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers says Nakagawa died of old age on Monday at a hospital in Tokyo.
Nakagawa was born in 1935 in Sapporo in northern Japan. After graduating from a teacher training school in Tokyo, she started working at a nursery. In her spare time, she wrote books for children.
Her debut book, “Iya Iya En,” which means “No, no, nursery school,” was published in 1962 and became an instant hit. Its popularity was enhanced by the adorable art provided by Nakagawa’s younger sister, Yamawaki Yuriko. The book received a Health and Welfare Minister award.
In 1963, Nakagawa and her sister started producing the “Guri and Gura” series for a monthly magazine. Guri and Gura are twin mice who love cooking and eating. A total of 22 million copies of the series in 22 installments were sold in Japan.
The series was also translated into foreign languages in 14 countries and territories, with a total of 2.5 million copies sold overseas.
Nakagawa remained active well into her 80s. In 2015, she wrote a book for young mothers based on her experiences as a nursery school teacher.