He married a second time in 1989, the Japanese woman Mariko Sato, and they remained married until his death. He first met Mariko Sato in 1976. Sato had moved from Japan to Germany in 1974 and was working for the International Youth Library in Munich. After their meeting at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, Sato translated some of Ende's books into Japanese and helped answer some of his questions about Japanese culture. From 1977 to 1980 Michael Ende and Mariko Sato worked together to produce a German translation of ten fairy tales by Japanese writer Kenji Miyazawa. The German text was never published, but the working partnership turned into a friendship. Mariko Sato accompanied him on a number of trips to Japan. The first trip took place in 1977 and included visits to Tokyo and Kyoto. For the first time Ende was able to experience Kabuki and Noh theatre, and was greatly impressed by traditional Japanese drama. Michael Ende had no children.