Masako Sueyoshi was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Masako lived in Old Greenwich for several years, where she became actively involved in the American storytelling movement, appearing often at Perrot Library, as well as at Tellabration! and the Connecticut Storytelling Festival. Since returning home, Masako has founded and coordinated Tellabration! in Japan, and has been featured internationally at the Australian National Storytelling Festival as well as at the Toronto and Yukon Storytelling Festivals. She was the International Guest Artist at the 2005 National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, where she told in both English and Japanese to an audience of hundreds. Masako says: "Japanese people believed in Kotodama-- the power of the word. I, too, believe in the big power of the story."

Masako visited Perrot to celebrate our Centennial Year with a very special family storytelling event on October 12th, 2005. Check out our photos below! Click each thumbnail to view a larger version.

Mrs. Mac introduces Masako to the audience	Mrs. Mac gives a summary of a story Masako is about to tell in Japanese	Mrs. Mac's versions of the stories were pretty funny!
Masako used language and gestures to help tell the story	You could tell what she meant even when she told in Japanese!	Masako also told two stories in English
Masako liked it when the audience helped participate in the story	This is Masako pretending to be a giant that's just swallowed a hot coal!	Everyone loved Masako's performance!