Utako Yamada

Utako Yamada (山田詩子) is a Japanese writer, illustrator and translator from Tokyo, Japan. She is the author of 3 official children's books, on which the most notable were The Story of Cherry the Pig and Buzzy the Honeybee. She also owns a tea shop named Karel Capek located in Kokubunji, Tokyo. She is married in Tokyo with her husband and two sons.

Career
Utako was born in 1963 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. After graduating in the Ritsumeikan University's Department of Sociology in Kyoto, she moved to Kokubunji, Tokyo, in 1987 and opened her tea shop, Karel Capek which is named after a Czech writer. At the time she is planning on selecting and blending tea, doing recipes and sweet packages, she became active on illustrating and writing stories and creating characters, some of them are based on her real life experiences. In 2002, she opened the Karel Capek Sweets shop in Kichijoji, which focuses on tea and sweets. She also worked on designing products for tea and tea accessories.

Utako had created 3 official children's books published in Japan, one which is translated in English. She also translated some of the Winnie the Pooh storybooks in Japanese and write various recipe books regarding tea and sweets. Utako also collaborated with Sanrio to make merchandise and tea-related goods based on the Wish me mell series.

Major works

 * British Sweets for Teatime (ティータイムのイギリス菓子) (November 2003, Bunka Shuppan Kyoku) ISBN 978-4579208791
 * Story of Tea: Teatime Diary (紅茶のおはなしティータイムダイアリー) (2002, FELISSIMO) ISBN 978-4894322431
 * Story of Tea 3 (紅茶のおはなし3) (November 2001, FELISSIMO) ISBN 978-4894322424
 * Story of Tea 2 (紅茶のおはなし2) (November 2001, FELISSIMO) ISBN 978-4894322417
 * Story of Tea 1 (紅茶のおはなし1) (November 2001, FELISSIMO) ISBN 978-4894322400
 * My First Tea Book: Life with Delicious Tea (おいしい紅茶のある暮らし) (November 1998, Media Factory) ISBN 978-4894322400
 * Tea Lover's Menu Book (紅茶好きのメニューブック) (February 1999, Bunka Shuppan Kyoku) ISBN 978-4579206544
 * Good Teatime Book (たのしいティータイムブック) (October 2001, Shufutoseikatsusha) ISBN 978-4391125535
 * The Story of Cherry the Pig (ぶたのチェリーのおはなし) (September 2002, Kaiseisha. Translated and Published in English by Barnes & Noble) ISBN 978-4033309705
 * Little Rabbit Pipin's Birthday (こうさぎピピンのたんじょうび) (October 2003, Kaiseisha) ISBN 978-4033309804
 * Buzzy the Honeybee (みつばちバジーちゃん) (October 2006, Kaiseisha) ISBN 978-4032277609