Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is one of Japan's most beloved writers and poets, known particularly for his sensitive and symbolist children's fiction. This volume collects stories which focus on Miyazawa's love of space and his use of the galaxy as a metaphor for the concepts of purity, self-sacrifice and faith which were near and dear to his heart.
The Nighthawk Star follows an lowly bird as he struggles to transform himself into something greater, a constellation in the night sky; Signal & Signal-less depicts a pair of star-crossed train signals who dream of eloping to the moon; and Night on the Galactic Railroad, Miyazawa's most famous work, tells the story of two boys as they journey upon a train that traverses the cosmos, learning the true meaning of friendship, happiness and life itself along the way.

A collection of classic, fantastical tales from Northern Japan that are equal parts whimsical and sophisticated, perfect for readers of all ages.

Kenji Miyazawa is one of modern Japan's most beloved writers, a great poet and a strange and marvelous spinner of tales, whose sly, humorous, enchanting, and enigmatic stories bear a certain resemblance to those of his contemporary Robert Walser. John Bester's selection and expert translation of Miyazawa's short fiction reflects its full range from the joyful, innocent Wildcat and the Acorns, to the cautionary tale The Restaurant of Many Orders, to The Earthgod and the Fox, which starts out whimsically before taking a tragic turn. Miyazawa also had a deep connection to Japanese folklore and an intense love of the natural world. In The Wild Pear, what seem to be two slight nature sketches succeed in encapsulating some of the cruelty and compensations of life itself.

A breathtakingly beautiful world...reminding us that we are part of the universe. --Kaori Nagai

A modern classic. --NPR

Lonely and awkward, Giovanni struggles with his sick mother, absent father, and an afterschool job that isolates him from his peers. But on the night of the Star Festival, he is magically transported onto a celestial train with his best friend, Campanella. Together, they embark on an extraordinary journey through the galaxy, encountering mysterious characters and grappling with life's deepest questions. When Giovanni returns to earth, he faces the heartbreaking truth about their voyage.

Kenji Miyazawa, one of Japan's most revered authors, is celebrated for his poetic vision and ability to weave profound reflections on human nature into fantastical settings. A Night on the Galactic Railway is a powerful exploration of friendship, loss, and the mysteries of existence, cementing its place as a timeless masterpiece. This edition, filled with stunning imagery and evocative themes, offers readers a glimpse into Miyazawa's genius. Reads right-to-left in the Japanese style.

Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is now widely viewed as Japan's greatest poet of the 20th century. Little known in his lifetime, he died at 37 from tuberculosis, but has since become a much loved children's author whose magical tales have been translated into many languages, adapted for the stage and turned into films and animations. Recognition for his poetry came much later. Strong in the Rain - the title-poem of this selection - is now arguably the most memorised and quoted modern poem in Japan. Both intensely lyrical and permeated with a sophisticated scientific understanding of the universe, Kenji Miyazawa's poems testify to his deep love of humanity and nature. From a young age, he was fascinated by plants, insects, and especially minerals, which he collected. At school, his interest in nature deepened, and he began poring through books on philosophy and Buddhism, which were to strongly influence his later writing. Miyazawa drew on nature in a way that no modern Japanese author had before him. Where other writers tended to use it as a springboard for their own meditations, he saw himself not just as nature's faithful chronicler and recorder but as its medium: light, wind and rain are processed through him before being recreated on the page. His mode of active engagement with nature set him apart from virtually all other Japanese poets, and led to his work being largely ignored by the Bundan (the literary establishment) and misunderstood for half a century. But in the 1990s, he received unprecedented attention in the Japanese media. The compassion, empathy and closeness to nature expressed in Kenji Miyazawa's poems and tales appealed strongly to a new generation of readers.

On the festival night celebrating the Milky Way galaxy, Giovanni is transported by a mysterious train to the Milky Way. He sees fantastic sights and meets mysterious people, including an old friend.

This unfinished but classic story of friendship, loss, and the search for true happiness has inspired the creation of dozens of movies, plays, manga, anime, television shows, musical pieces, and even research papers.

The poet Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933) was an early twentieth-century Japanese modernist who today is known worldwide for his poetry and stories as well as his devotion to Buddhism. Miyazawa Kenji: Selections collects a wide range of his poetry and provides an excellent introduction to his life and work. Miyazawa was a teacher of agriculture by profession and largely unknown as a poet until after his death. Since then his work has increasingly attracted a devoted following, especially among ecologists, Buddhists, and the literary avant-garde. This volume includes poems translated by Gary Snyder, who was the first to translate a substantial body of Miyazawa's work into English. Hiroaki Sato's own superb translations, many never before published, demonstrate his deep familiarity with Miyazawa's poetry. His remarkable introduction considers the poet's significance and suggests ways for contemporary readers to approach his work. It further places developments in Japanese poetry into a global context during the first decades of the twentieth century. In addition the book features a Foreword by the poet Geoffrey O'Brien and essays by Tanikawa Shuntaro, Yoshimasu Gozo, and Michael O'Brien.

A tender, timeless fable about afterlife from Japan's best-loved children's writer.

One day, two gentlemen from Tokyo went for hunting and found a rather impressive looking restaurant in the middle of a woods. But there is really something wrong with this restaurant...

Seminal translations from the large body of Miyazawa Kenji's poetry. Considered to be one of the greatest modern Japanese poets, Miyazawa is also, the poet of the Tsunami recovery. The editor selected brief lines from Miyazawa's best known works and they are juxtaposed with lovely photographs by Japanese photojournalist, Kenji Okuhira. Readers can see not only Miyazawa's homeland, but also images of the Tsunami disaster of 2011. There is a beautiful visual exposition of Zen in this book that matches the poetry of the master, Miyazawa. The book is in English and Japanese.

Seminal translations from the large body of Miyazawa Kenji's poetry. Considered to be one of the greatest modern Japanese poets, Miyazawa is also, the poet of the Tsunami recovery. The editor selected brief lines from Miyazawa's best known works and they are juxtaposed with lovely photographs by Japanese photojournalist, Kenji Okuhira. Readers can see not only Miyazawa's homeland, but also images of the Tsunami disaster of 2011. There is a beautiful visual exposition of Zen in this book that matches the poetry of the master, Miyazawa. The book is in English and Japanese.

From Wikipedia: Kenji Miyazawa (a(r)(r)ae e ae Miyazawa Kenji, 27 August 1896 - 21 September 1933) was a Japanese poet and author of children's literature in the early Showa period of Japan. He was also known as a devout Buddhist, vegetarian and social activist.

From Wikipedia: Night on the Galactic Railroad (Ginga Tetsud

The most renowned work by the legendary Japanese writer who inspired Studio Ghibli, Night on the Galactic Railroad is a classic for readers of My Father's Dragon and A Wrinkle in Time. An adventure story steeped in profound themes.

On the eve of the Milky Way festival, Giovanni rushes past his classmates who are busy preparing for the celebration. He must get to his job at the printing office where he plucks tiny pieces of type with tweezers from a box, in exchange for a single silver coin. Later, he waits in a dusky kitchen that smells of cows for a bottle of milk to bring to his mother. Night has fallen when his classmates begin sailing gourds lit with candles down the black, glistening river. Giovanni wanders along a hillside. The dark blue sky begins to twinkle and shine. And suddenly, Giovanni finds himself transported to a compartment of the Galactic train. Across from him is his fellow classmate, the tender-hearted, enigmatic Campanella.

So begins an expedition traversing the galaxy. Campanella and Giovanni, etched in a black-and-white gothic style, travel through fields of purple flowers, into constellations. They meet the strangest people. There's the lighthouse man, the bird catcher, and the shipwrecked children. Kenji Miyazawa's story unravels its mysterious thread, in an exquisite translation by Asa Yoneda and David Boyd. Osamu Tsukasa's illustrations combine the enigmatic beauty of Edvard Munch and Aubrey Beardsley's art nouveau ink drawings--both of whom were inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. Miyazawa's classic story will stay with readers long after childhood.

JAPANESE EDITION with notes in English

Two tales from the master storyteller Kenji Miyazawa

Matsuri no Ban - Ryoji goes to the autumn festival that takes place in the village near his home. There he encounters a giant man with eyes the colour of grubby gold. Is he, as the villagers claim, the Mountain Man of legend and is Ryoji wise to try to help him?

Kenji Miyazawa is well known for his tales of fantasy, but this story, although it contains an element of the supernatural, is firmly based in reality.

Futari no Yakunin - Very early one Sunday morning, two young boys set out to visit the fields outside the town where they live. When they are nearly at their destination they find that a notice board has been erected telling the public to Keep Out. Despite the warning they decide to continue with their outing...

Told in the first person, this is a superb example of Miyazawa's un-magical writing. The characters and locations are acutely observed and lovingly described in a way which powerfully evokes the lost days of childhood.

In both these stories the characters very often speak colloquially, using language that is outside the province of most language learning text-books. Because of this extra pains have been taken to highlight and explain idiomatic expressions and contractions in speech and, although it is never possible to make a word for word translation from one language to another, all the speech has been translated, as literally as possible, into English.

This Japanese-English edition features:

- Modern Japanese text

- Kanji with furigana readings

- Detailed notes in English

*Recommended for intermediate and advanced students.

About the author: -

Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is often referred to as a writer of children's literature, but although his stories may appear simple they are far from child-like in conception or execution. Among his best known tales are Gingatetsudo no Yoru and Cello Hiki no Goshu both of which been made into animated films.

Other books in this series include:

Taketori Monogatari - retold by Dr. Mankichi Wada

Inu to Fue - by Akutagawa Ryunosuke