Michiko Inukai

Michiko Inukai (犬養 道子, Inukai Michiko) was born on April 20, 1921, in Yotsuya, Tokyo, Japan. She was the eldest daughter of Takeru Inukai, a politician, and Nakako. Her paternal grandfather was Tsuyoshi Inukai, who served as Prime Minister of Japan. She had a younger brother, Yasuhiko Inukai, a journalist who later became president of Kyodo News, and a half-sister, Kazu Ando, known for her work as an essayist. Sadako Ogata, who served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, is her first cousin once removed.

Inukai completed her education at Gakushuin Girls' School and Tsuda College. In 1948, she traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, to study philosophy. In 1959, she was dispatched to Europe as a correspondent for Chuokoronsha, a Japanese publishing company.

Her literary career began with the publication of her first book, "Ojosan Horoki," in 1958. She subsequently authored essays focusing on the Bible and Christianity. Her notable work "Hanabana to Hoshiboshi to" was published in 1970 and was adapted into a television drama in 1978.

Inukai founded her charity activities in 1979, initiating various philanthropic endeavors. In 1983, she established the Michiko Inukai Foundation, which collaborates with the Jesuit Refugee Service to provide aid for refugees and internally displaced persons. The foundation also manages a computer school in Romania.

Her bibliography includes the following works:

- "Ojosan Horoki" (1958)

- "Onna ga Soto ni Deru Toki" (1964)

- "Watashi no Amerika" (My America) (1966)

- "Hanabana to Hoshiboshi to" (1970)

- "Shin'yaku Seisho Monogatari" (New Testament Stories) (1976)

- "Kyuyaku Seisho Monogatari" (Old Testament Stories) (1977)

- "Kawaku Daichi - Ningen no Daichi" (1989)

- "Aru Rekishi no Musume" (1995)

- "Seisho o Tabisuru" (1996)

- "Josei e no Junana no Tegami" (Seventeen Letters for Women) (1998)

- "Mirai kara no Kako" (2001)

- "Kokoro no Zahyojiku" (2006)

Michiko Inukai passed away on July 24, 2017.