Instead, she worked at a bank called Nihon Kangyō Ginkō and the Japan Travel Bureau.
In 1945, during the Bombing of Tokyo that occurred during World War II, her family evacuated to the city of Nakano in Nagano prefecture.
[2] Matsutani's first book was a collection of short stories called Kai ni natta kodomo (貝になった子供),[3] which won an award.
This research eventually inspired her 1960 book Taro the Dragon Boy.
The stories she wrote based on folktales were especially focused on the relationship between humans and nature.