Japanese picture book author Keiko Sena dies at 92

Picture book author Keiko Sena died from old age at her home in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter have said. She was 92.
A Tokyo native, Sena, whose real name was Keiko Kuroda, studied under the late Takeo Takei, a writer of stories for children, after graduating from Ochanomizu University Senior High School in Tokyo.

In 1969, Sena made her debut as a picture book author with “Iyada no Ehon,” a four-piece book series for which she used paper collage for illustrations. She won the Sankei children’s book award for the work the following year.
“Nenaiko Dareda” from the series, in which a night-owl child is spirited away to a world of ghosts, became a bestseller, with cumulative sales exceeding 3 million copies.
Sena was popular for her collages that portray characters in an expressive way and for her writing style, with which she conveyed children’s feelings candidly and humorously.

Among her other works were the “Megane Usagi” series, including “Obake no Tempura,” and the “An no Ehon” series, which includes “Ruru-chan no Kutsushita.”
Sena also produced books, such as “Hayaoki Obake,” with her daughter Kaoru Kuroda, who is also a picture book author. Linguist Ryunosuke Kuroda is her son.