Kiki's Delivery Service (novel)
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Japanese book cover
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| Author | Eiko Kadono |
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| Original title | 魔女の宅急便 Majo no Takkyūbin |
| Translator | Lynne E. Riggs |
| Illustrator | Akiko Hayashi |
| Cover artist | Akiko Hayashi |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Series | Majo no Takkyūbin |
| Genre | Children's, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Fukuinkan Shoten |
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Publication date
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January 25, 1985 |
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Published in English
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February 1, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 259 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 166865908 |
| LC Class | MLCSJ 86/174 (P) |
| Followed by | Majo no Takkyūbin 2: Kiki to Atarashii Mahou (Kiki's Delivery Service 2: Kiki and Her New Magic) |
Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便 Majo no Takkyūbin?, lit. Witch's Express Home Delivery) is a children's fantasy novel written by Eiko Kadono and illustrated by Akiko Hayashi. It was first published by Fukuinkan Shoten on January 25, 1985. It is the basis of the 1989 Studio Ghibli anime film of the same title and of the 2014 live action film also of the same name.
The book won numerous awards in Japan. Encouraged by this and by the success of the film, Kadono has written four more novels, over a period of several years, and created a book series. The most recent was published in October 2009.
The book follows Kiki, a young witch. Her mother is also a witch, but her father is not. Kiki is now thirteen and must spend a year on her own in a town without other witches. She must use her magic abilities to earn her living. She is accompanied by her cat Jiji.
The word takkyūbin (宅急便, literally home-fast-mail) in the Japanese title is a trademark of Yamato Transport, though it is used today as a synonym for takuhaibin (宅配便, literally home-delivery-mail). The company not only approved the use of the trademark — though its permission was not required under Japanese trademark laws — but also enthusiastically sponsored the anime film version of the book, as the company uses a stylized depiction of a black mother cat carrying her kitten as its corporate logo.
Non-Japanese versions of Majo no Takkyūbin were not published until 2003 when the book became available in English, Italian, Korean and Chinese. The Swedish and Indonesian editions were published in 2006.
Not all translations of the book follow the original title. Some include the name of the central character.
This edition is translated by Lynne E. Riggs and illustrated by Akiko Hayashi. The cover is by Irvin Cheung. The book is 176 pages and, like the original Japanese edition, has eleven chapters.
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Wikipedia