Cats at Every Turn | Machida Naoko

A rising star in picture books, Machida Naoko is acclaimed for illustrations of bold composition and loving detail that evoke singular worlds. Her many popular works include the ghost story Iru no inai no (Is It There?; Iwasaki Shoten, 2012), with text by Kyogoku Natsuhiko.

The title of this long-awaited new collection comes from Machida’s personal motto—take a close look at the pictures, even the ones for stories that might not seem to have much to do with cats, and you’ll see that she’s slipped one or two of them in there somewhere. Meanwhile, cats rendered in amazingly delicate brushwork do take center stage in many of her more recent works. Every cat is depicted in minute detail from its movements right down to the feel of its fur, revealing Machida’s keen eye and affection for these creatures with which she shares her own day-to-day life.

Cats at Every Turn covers Machida’s works from the earliest to most recent, including book illustrations and covers, original artwork, and a brand-new eight-page picture story created especially for this volume.

Book design by Oshima Idea
Includes an interview with the author

Machida Naoko is an artist and picture-book illustrator. Born in 1968 in Tokyo, she received her training at the Musashino Art University Junior College of Art and Design. Her many well-beloved books include Urashima Taro (Akane Shobo, 2010), Matchi uri no shojo (The Little Match Girl; Froebel-Kan, 2018), and two ghost stories with Kyogoku Natsuhiko, Iru no inai no (Is It There?; Iwasaki Shoten, 2012) and Azukitogi (The Azuki-Bean Washer; Iwasaki Shoten, 2015). An avowed cat lover, she is also known for her books starring cats, among them Namae no nai neko (The Cat without a Name; Komine Shoten, 2019), Neko to neko (Cat and Cat; Koguma Publishing, 2019), Neko wa rusuban (Stuck at Home; Holp Shuppan, 2020), and Nekozume no yoru (The Night of the Cat Claw; Iwasaki Shoten, 2021).