Kadono was born in Tokyo, and attended the Nihon Fukushi University in Aichi prefecture, followed by a degree in English literature from Waseda University.

After graduation in 1960 at the age of 25, she emigrated to Brazil, where she spent two years. She wrote a nonfiction story called Brazil and My Friend Luizinho based on her experience at that time, about a Brazilian boy who loves dancing samba. This was her maiden work, but it was not published until 1970.

Most of her works are books for children. Her first successful children's book published Ôdorabô Bula Bula shi [The Robber Bla-Bla] was published in 1981. In 1985, she published the children's novel , which was later adapted into the Hayao Miyazaki animated film with the same title. Both the novel and the film are known by the English title Kiki's Delivery Service. The book was awarded the Noma Children’s Literature Award, and she followed on this success with four sequels in the same series.

In Kiki’s Delivery Service, Kiki, a young witch-in-training, and her talking cat fly away to live in the seaside town of Korico. After starting a delivery service using her broom as the delivery vehicle, Kiki must learn how to deal with life.

Kiki's Delivery Service ( Majo no Takky?bin, 1985)