is a series of

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s created by and published by .

Books

The first and eponymous book was published in 1967, and was followed by five others: (1972), (1976), (1982), (1989), and (1996). In the year the last one was published, Koguma released a box set containing the six books. Additionally, an emaki book, , was released in 1992 and re-released in 2011; a

karuta are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in ...

book was released in 1994; and three

post card A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

books were released in 1986, 1998, and 2001 by Koguma.

Reception

The first book received the

Sankei The (short for ) is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the It has the seventh-highest circulation for regional newspapers in Japan. Among Japanese newspapers, the circulation is second only to ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', Seikyo Shimbun, ''As ...

Children's Book Award a year after its release. In 1973 ''11 Piki no Neko to Ahōdori'' was awarded the

Bungeishunjū Manga Award The was an annual award established in 1955 and given out by Bungeishunjū in Japan for gag, , one-panel, and satirical manga. The award was also given out for works considered the magnum opus of manga creators. Past winners of the award includ ...

. In 1985 ''11 Piki no Neko Marathon Taikai'' won a special mention at the

BolognaRagazzi Awards The Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world. Since 1963, it is held yearly for four days in March or April in Bologna, Italy. It is the meeting place for ...

. The

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. An independent, non-governmental, not-for-p ...

(IFLA) requested the Children and Young Adults Section of the Japan Library Association to select ten books "which have been read by many children over many years" in Japan. In 2013, IFLA published a book titled ''The World Through Picture Books'' and included the first book from the series as the fourth most important picture book of Japan.

Adaptations

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including p ...

adapted the two first book of the series into

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

films: the first was released on July 19, 1980, and the second on August 27, 1986. The first one was directed by Shiro Fujimoto and the second by Tameo Ogawa, while Yoshitake Suzuki wrote the screenplay for both versions. Hiromi Go and

Tōru Furuya is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. As a child, he was a member of Gekidan Himawari, a children's acting troupe. He is currently employed by the talent management firm Aoni Production. Furuya is most known for the anime roles of Amur ...

dubbed the main role for the first and the second film respectively. Both films were dubbed into German and released by Taurus Video. In 1969,

Hisashi Inoue was a leading Japanese playwright and writer of comic fiction. From 1961 to 1986, he used the pen name of Uchiyama Hisashi. Early life Inoue was born in what is now part of Kawanishi in Yamagata Prefecture, where his father was a pharmacis ...

adapted the book into a

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performa ...

show with

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

Hiroshi Aoshima is a common masculine Japanese given name. It can also be transliterated as Hirosi. Possible writings Hiroshi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *浩, "meaning" *汎 *弘, *宏, *寛, *洋, *博, *博一, *博司, ...

that was broadcast by

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

. It was made into a stage play and

Theatre Echo Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

performed it in 1971 and 1973.

Ongaku no Tomo-sha ''Ongaku'' (音楽; literally ''Music'') is the sixth studio album by Japanese rock band Tokyo Jihen, released on 9 June 2021 through EMI Records. The album was produced by the band and recording engineer Uni Inoue. Background Tokyo Jihen had d ...

published the play into a book in 1985; it was republished in 1998 and 2007. In 1989 Komatsuza reenacted the play and it along with

Horipro is a large Japanese talent agency. History It was founded in 1960 as Hori Productions (ホリプロダクション ''Hori Purodakushon'') and changed to its present name in 1990. Horipro has two locations in the United States: Nashville and ...

produced a new show in 2012 for Inoue's 77th anniversary.

References

{{Group TAC 1967 children's books 1980 anime films 1986 anime films Japanese picture books Fictional cats Group TAC Japanese books Series of children's books Cats in literature