Anne's Cradle: the Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka

 by Eri Muraoka

This book is about the Japanese translator of the Anne of Green Gables and other L.M. Montgomery books (16 of 21).

It is a fascinating story about an amazing woman.

Hanoka was one of the children of a poor tea merchant.  All the other children were sent into service of some kind but Hanoka's father, who had become a Christian, decided to send her to a girl's school run by Christian missionaries.  She was sent there at 10 years of age and lived in a dorm at the school.   Most of the students were of wealthy parents but somehow she got in on a scholarship.  Most of the missionaries were Canadian.

She was an eager student and especially liked to devour the English language books in the library.  She shrived in the school and while she longed to be a translator she started out by being a school teacher. At quite an advanced age for a young woman, she met and married her husband whose family ran a publishing company.  This was of course right up her alley.  However, an earthquake destroyed the printing business and the other brother who had been co-managing with it also died.  Hanako and her husband struggled to start up another publishing company.  In addition to earning money for her own family Hanoka also tried to support her family as well so money was tight.

She was committed to publishing books for children. She translated a lot of english language books such as Twain, Dickens and Buck.  She also became active in the Japanese suffragette movement.

When world war started the teachers at the school had to leave the country.  One of the teachers gave Hanako a well-worn copy of Anne of Green Gables before she left.  Hanako and her husband's printing business was destroyed, by a bomb this time.  While the war raged on Hanako would take the copy of Anne of Green Gables and her translation notes with her every time she went to a shelter.  She knew that if she was caught with this book by the "enemy" she would face imprisonment or even death but she kept on.

After the war she tried to get the book published and finally in 1952 she was successful.  It was an instant success, exceeding the expectations of Hanako and the publisher.  She went on to translate more of Montgomery's books.  She never made it to PEI.  Eventually she was part of the group to convince the Americans who were "governing" Japan after the war that women should have the right to vote and they did get the right.

Hanako's house had a huge library, later in life she opened her private library to the neighbourhood children and eventually donated the collection to some institution.

An fascinating women who had an amazing life.  Like Anne she persevered through many difficulties, death of her son, loss of businesses, the war, etc.