Grace James

Grace Edith Marion James, an English novelist, was born in Tokyo. She was a children's book author and a Japanese folklorist. Her Japanese Fairy Tales (1910) collected and retold stories from Japanese folklore. It was illustrated by Warwick Goble. Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales and The Moon Maiden and Other Japanese Fairy Tales are further editions of the original book. The Three Dwarf Trees is based on a Japanese play. Japan: Recollections & Impressions, a memoir on her time in...See more

Grace Edith Marion James, an English novelist, was born in Tokyo. She was a children's book author and a Japanese folklorist. Her Japanese Fairy Tales (1910) collected and retold stories from Japanese folklore. It was illustrated by Warwick Goble. Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales and The Moon Maiden and Other Japanese Fairy Tales are further editions of the original book. The Three Dwarf Trees is based on a Japanese play. Japan: Recollections & Impressions, a memoir on her time in Japan, was released in 1936. Grace James also wrote the John and Mary children's adventure series, with one of the books, John and Mary's Aunt, based on the author's childhood in Japan. Her father, Thomas, was a British naval officer who served on one of the Naval Missions that visited Japan (most likely the Douglas Mission, given the dates). Her parents moved there around 1873, and she was born in Tokyo seven years later (followed by a brother and sister). During this time, the family lived in five different houses in and around Tokyo, with summers spent in Nikko, Kamakura, and Karuizawa. When Grace was twelve, the entire family returned to England. See less