In honor of the 116th birthday of Aya Kōda, Japanese novelist, essayist, and feminist, Yuko Shimizu was tapped to create an illustration for the September 1 Google Doodle featured in Japan.
Google conducted a short interview with the artist to get her thoughts on the making of the doodle:
Q: Why was this topic meaningful to you personally?
A: It is very inspiring to know about a female writer doing such revolutionary work during a time when most women didn't really have occupations outside of homemaking.
Q: What were your first thoughts when you were approached about the project?
A: Japanese female author for a Japanese book nerd like me? Amazing.
Q: What message do you hope people take away from your Doodle?
A: I hope people are inspired by her strength as a female author when that was not really an option for a woman and her involvement to reconstructing Horinji Temple's three-story pagoda.
Read more about the Doodle here.
