Stories & Books
Stories & Books
by Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa
Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa is a Renaissance artist — one who creates across many worlds.
Through copper etching, washi ink painting, and textile dyeing, she gives form to beauty that cannot be spoken. Through words, she gives voice to the magic that lives quietly in everyday life.
Her picture books are written and illustrated by her own hand — each page a world where her visual art and storytelling meet.
Two stories, so far. More are on their way.
🐉 The Dragon Who Lives in the Blue Sea
Written and illustrated by Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa
One morning, a dragon wakes to find his beloved sea has turned completely black and filled with a terrible smell. Heartbroken, he cries — and his cry calls his friends, who call the flying fish, who take them all on a journey deep beneath the surface. What they discover changes everything.
A story about love for the natural world, friendship, and trust — and how, by holding on to those we love, we find our own strength without even noticing.
Currently submitted to literary agents.
🧙♀️ Majokko Mary and Her Friends
Written and illustrated by Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa
Mary is a little girl who lives inside a painting. She only comes out at night — and when she does, she carries not a magic wand, but a yellow triangular scarf. One night, she visits Lucky the Labrador, and together they sneak off to the park under a smiling moon.
A gentle, playful story about the secret life of things we love — and the magic of an ordinary night.
Episode 1: Complete. Series in progress.
🌸 Poetry — Senryu
Words, too, are at the heart of Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa's creative practice.
Since 2023, she has published 10 senryu poems every single day on her Japanese blog “Yuko-chan Channel” — now reaching its 985th edition, with a total of nearly 10,000 poems written.
Senryu is a Japanese poetic form written in the traditional 5–7–5 syllable rhythm — like haiku, but rooted in human nature, humor, and the warmth of everyday life. In Yuriko’s hands, it becomes another way of seeing: precise, tender, and alive.
Each post is accompanied by one original flower photograph taken by the artist herself — no two photos ever repeated. A quiet, daily act of beauty: words and image, offered together.
The blog maintains a 96.9% posting rate — a testament to the discipline and devotion behind the practice. (Occasionally, a late night stretches past midnight — but the poems always arrive.)
The blog attracts 100 to 200 readers daily, with a cumulative total of over 93,000 visits — a quiet but devoted community gathered around the rhythm of her words.
→ Read the poems on Rakuten Blog — Yuko-chan Channel (Japanese)
A Sample — No. 985 (June 17, 2026)
Ten poems from a single morning by the sea. Japanese original with English translation.
Pink lilies grown in the artist’s garden — photographed by Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa
潮騒の 音が静かに 日の出ごろ
The sound of the surf / quietly, gently arrives / around the sunrise日の出見て 昇る時間を 楽しんで
Watching the sunrise / enjoying the time it takes / to climb up the skyクラプトン Tears in heaven 歌おうか
Clapton’s voice rises — / shall we sing Tears in Heaven / together today?美しい ギターの神様 音色想れ
How beautiful — / the god of guitar himself / I fall for that sound太陽の 光の道が 水面に
The sun’s golden path / stretches across the water / all the way to meきらきらと 光の道が 伸びていく
Glittering, glowing / a road of light keeps reaching / further and further砂浜で 波といっしょに 移動して
On the sandy shore / moving along together / with each passing wave足跡を 消してしまうな 波の水
Don’t erase them, please — / those footprints in the wet sand / washed away by waves太陽が 昇るの早い もう上に
The sun has risen / already so high above — / it climbed up so fast地球がね 動くのがね 早いんだ
Ah, the Earth itself / is spinning so very fast — / that’s why it’s up there
“More stories are always being born.”
— Yuriko Yuco Yoshikawa