- Taro Yashima
Taro Yashima (八島太郎) (1908–1994) was the pseudonym of Jun Atsushi Iwamatsu (岩松淳). He was born in
Nejime, Kagoshima in 1908. After studying for three years at the Imperial Art Academy in Tokyo, he became a successful illustrator and cartoonist before going to jail because of his opposition to the militaristic government. In 1939 he and his wife went to America to study art, leaving their son Mako behind in Japan. AfterPearl Harbor Mr. Iwamatsu joined the U. S. Army, and went to work as an artist for the OSS. It was then he first used the pseudonym Taro Yashima, out of fear that if the Japanese Government found out there would be repercussions for Mako and other family members. After the war, he and his wife were granted permanent residence status by act of Congress, he was able to return to Japan and collect Mako, and his daughter Momo was born.The New Sun (1943), published under the name Taro Yashima, was a 310 page autobiographical picture book for adults, about life in pre-war militaristic Japan. Its sequel, Horizon is Calling (1947), was in the same style (one picture plus usually 1 or 2 lines of text per page). The 276 page tome continued the story of his life, this time with added Japanese text, and concluded with musings of leaving Japan to study art overseas.
In the early 1950's he began writing and illustrating children's books under the pseudonym he'd used in the OSS. "Crow Boy" (1956), "Umbrella" (1958) and "Seashore Story" (1967) are Caldecott Honor books.
External links
* [http://www.lib.usm.edu/%7Edegrum/html/research/findaids/yashima.htm De Grummond Collection Taro Yashima page] with a biographical sketch.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
