Yushiko Uchida
1921 - 1992

"Through my book I hope to give young Asian Americans a sense of their past and to reinforce their self-esteem and self-knowledge. At the same time, I want to disper the stereotypic image still held by many non-Asians about the Japanese and write about them as real people. I hope to convey the strength of spirit and the sense of hope and purpose I have observed in many first-generation Japanese. Beyond that, I write to celebrate our common humanity and the basic elements of humanity that are in all our strivings."

Jump to: Biography and Criticism | Selected Bibliography | Non-English Materials | Related Links

Biography / Criticism

Yoshkio Uchida was born in 1921, in Alameda, California. Her parents immigrated from Japan, settling in America to raise her family. Her father, a business man and her mother instilled the love of reading books and poetry in her. Yoshiko loved America and had no idea she was different from her friends, until elementary school. It was here she realized how much she stood out from her predominantly white classmates. However, she fully realized how separate she was from her country when the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred. It was at this time her father was sent away to an internment camp under suspicion he was involved with the bombing. Yoshiko's family went many hardships, but Yoshkio managed to graduate high school in two and a half years, and became a sixteen-year-old freshman at the University of California.
Despite her academic success, Yoshiko and her family soon joined her father in an internment camp. Here she discovered her love for education and was able to get a job teaching the children. While in the internment camp she passed time by reflecting about her life in her journals.
After a year Yoshiko was given the opportunity to become free, but was forced to leave her parents behind. She was accepted for graduate courses in the Education Department at Smith's College in Brooklyn, New York. Upon completion of her degree Yoshiko became a teacher for a few years. She decided that her Japanese culture and experiences were more a part of her than she realized and thus began to concentrate on teaching a younger generation by becoming and author of children's stories. It is her hope that she will help Americans understand the Japanese culture so that internment camps never happen again. Along with understanding, Yoshiko Uchida hopes to instill pride in the culture she holds dear to her heart.

Selected Bibliography

Works by the Author

Children's Books:

The Magic Purse (1994)
Journey To Topaz (1971)
A Jar of Dreams (1981)
Journey Home (1978)
The Best Bad Thing (1983)
The Bracelet (1993)
Samuri of Gold Hill (1972)
The Dancing Kettle: And Other Japanese Tales (1949)
The Sea of Gold: And Other Tales from Japan (1965)
Rkubei and the thousand Rice Bowls (1962)
The Rooster who Understood Japanese (1976)
Sumi and the Goat and the Toyoko express (1969)
Sumi's Prize (1964)
Sumi's Special Happenings (1966)
Takao and Grandfather's Sword (1958)
The Wise Old Woman (1994)
The Terrible Leak (1990)
The Birthday Visitor (1975)
Forever Christmas Tree (1963)
The Happiest Ending (1985)
In Between Miya (1967)
The Magic Listening Cap: More Folk Tales from Japan (1955)
New Friends for Susan (1951)
The Full Circle (1957)
The Promise Year (1959)
Mik and the Prowler (1960)
Hisako's Mysteries (1969)
Makoto, the Smallest Boy: A Story of Japan (1970)

Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction

Do Not Work Alone: The Thoughts of Kaniro Kawai (1953)
The History of Sycamore Church (1974)
Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family (1982)
Picture Bride (1987)
The Invisible Thread (1991)

Other Works

The Old Man with the Bump (cassette, 1973)
The Two Foolish Cats (filmstrip and cassette, 1977)
The Fox and the Bear (cassette, 1979)
Tabi: Journey through Time, Stories of the Japanese in America (cassette, 1984)

Works about the Author

Uchida, Yushiko. (1991). The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Collier, Laurie and Nakamura, Joyce. (1993). Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults. Detroit, MI: Gale Research.

Yushiko Uchida 1921 - 1992