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Satoshi Kako’s 97th Birthday
Today’s Doodle celebrates the 97th birthday of Satoshi Kako, a Japanese author and illustrator who created children’s books that are read to this day. He wrote over 600 stories, and his engineering and scientific background inspired him to add a unique spin to make each tale educational, enjoyable, and stimulating for Japanese youth.
Kako, whose real name was Satoshi Nakajima, was born on this day in 1926 in Kunitaka Village of the Fukui Prefecture. As a boy, he was surrounded by other talented kids who encouraged him to take up drawing. Kako studied chemistry at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) and graduated in 1948. While in school, he joined a theater study group and began writing scripts and designing stage sets for children’s plays.
He got a job at a major Japanese chemical company and organized puppet shows and traditional kamishibai (or play-card) performances for his colleagues’ children. Fueled by the smiles in the small audiences and praises from coworkers, Kako wrote his debut children’s book in 1959 titled Damu no Ojisan-Tachi (Uncles of the Dam) about how dams are useful to society. He continued to create masterpiece works throughout the next three decades.
Kako is most known for the Daruma-chan series about Little Daruma, a boy who goes on countless adventures and makes new friends along the way. He also wrote many stories that taught kids about everyday topics like brushing their teeth, traditional Japanese games, baking, and more. Throughout his long career as an author, Kako won many awards like the Takahashi Gozan Special Award in 1985, the Japanese Science Reading Award in 1991, and the Kanagawa Culture Award in 2009.
From beakers to books and test tubes to tales, Satoshi Kako’s life was a page-turner. Happy birthday and as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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