Children’s book author and illustrator Akiko Hayashi, whose illustrations helped serve as the basis for Studio Ghibli’s beloved Kiki’s Delivery Service, has died.
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According to Japanese news outlet The Mainichi, Hayashi passed away from pneumonia on July 1 at a hospital in Nagano prefecture.
Hayashi is best known for illustrating the first novel in Eiko Kadono’s Kiki’s Delivery Service series, which Studio Ghibli adapted into a film in 1989. She also provided illustrations for Yoriko Tsutsui’s Miki’s First Errand and Kyoko Matsuoka’s There’s a Hippo in My Bath!
Hayashi launched her career in 1973 with the picture book Kamihihoki. She also authored her own picture books, including Good Evening Mr. Moon and Aki and the Fox.
Throughout her career, Hayashi received numerous accolades for her work. These include the 2nd Ehon Nippon Award and the fine art prize of the Sankei Children’s Book Publishing Culture Award.
Meanwhile, Kiki’s Delivery Service is also experiencing a major revival, with both a sequel and a live-action adaptation now in the works.
An official English translation of Kiki and the New Magic, the 1993 Japanese sequel to Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono, drops on Aug. 25, 2026. Translated by Emily Balistrieri and illustrated by Yuta Onoda, the Delacorte Press release marks 33 years since the sequel’s original Japanese publication.
A live-action TV adaptation of Kiki’s Delivery Service is also in development at BBC Studios Kids & Family, produced in partnership with Kadokawa Corporation and Wheel in Motion. The series will consist of 10 thirty-minute episodes in its first season.
Akiko Hayashi’s illustrations helped bring Kiki’s world to life… and decades later, that legacy is still going strong.
Akiko Hayashi was 81.