Uehashi's career as a writer started in 1989. Her first book was . She then wrote the novel . This novel received an award from the Japanese Association of Writers for Children, which made her one of the famous Japanese-fantasy authors. In 1996, she published the first book of her
Moribito series, . The novel received the Noma Children's Literature New Face Prize and the Sankei Children's Culture and Publishing award and the English translation was awarded the
Mildred L. Batchelder Award in 2009. In 1999, Uehashi published the second book of the
Moribito series, . With this novel she received the Japanese Association of Writers for Children's award. and in 2003, won another Japanese award from the Shogakukan publishing company. Then, in 2003, Uehashi wrote the novel , which received a Noma Children's Literature award. In 2006 she wrote the two-volume , which she complemented with two more volumes in 2009. Both
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and the first two volumes of
The Beast Player have had
anime adaptations, in 2007 and 2009, respectively.
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit has also been made into a radio drama and
The Beast Player into a manga. The first two books in the series were translated to English and won the
Mildred L. Batchelder Award from the
American Library Association, the first volume in 2009, and the second, in 2010. For her "lasting contribution" as a children's writer, Uehashi won the biennial, international
Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014. She has been called "a highly popular fantasy writer for young adults" in Japan. ==Works in English translation==