Michio Mado

Michio Mado studied at National Taipei University of Technology. The recorded working language is Japanese. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are children's. Works named in the authority record are Zo san, The magic pocket and Ichinensei Ni Nattara. Distinctions recorded are Noma award for children's literature, Iwaya Sazanami Award, Hans Christian Andersen Award and Asahi Prize.

Mado was born as Michio Ishida in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi prefecture. During his childhood, he resided with his grandfather while his parents went to work in Taiwan. He later reunited with his family in Taiwan. He completed his education at the School of Industrial Instruction in Taipei and subsequently worked for the Office of the Governor-General. Mado died on February 28, 2014, at the age of 104.

Empress Michiko took a keen interest in Mado's works. She has been a fan of poetry. In June 2013, two collections of the poetry of Mado, which the Empress had been asked to translate into English in the early Heisei era, Rainbow: Niji and Eraser: Keshigomu, were published. Together with her previously published translations of Mado's poetry, including The Animals: Dobutsu-tachi, the publication of these new books means almost all the translations by the Empress of Mado's poems, which earned him the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1994, are now published.