As a longtime resident and ex-at living in Japan (21 years in Tokyo and 10 years in Aomori), I find my love for Japanese literature has grown over the past few years. Recently, I have been able to read many Japanese books in their original language. I also continue to read a number of Japanese titles and authors that have been translated into English.

The latest translation work I read is Kenji Miyazawa’s Milky Way Railroad which has also been translated into English with the titles Night on the Galactic Railway, Night Train to the Stars, and Fantasy Railway into the Stars.

Miyazawa is also an author of short stories which has been compiled in the book Once and Forever : The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa (Asia by the Book, April 2020) and has written a series of children’s picture books - The Shining Feet, The Bears of Mt. Nametoko, and Crossing the Snow (Asia by the Book, September 2022).

Milky Way Railroad is by far Kenji Miyazawa’s most popular work. It was originally published posthumously in the Japanese language as 銀河鉄道の夜 (Ginga Testudo no Yoru) by Bunkoshoin in 1934, a year after Miyazawa’s death.

The story is about a boy named Giovanni who lives in the town of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture in Japan’s Tohoku region. He is the son of a poor fisherman whose father is miles away in Hokkaido. Giovanni’s best friend is Campanella who is the son of a professor.

The time of year is during Tanabata, known in English as the Star Festival. It is celebrated every year on the seventh day of the seventh month. It is a story about Cowherd (Hikoboshi) and Weaver (Orihime), star-crossed lovers who can only meet this one time during the year.

On the night of the Star Festival, Giovanni was to get milk for his sick mother. He told his mother he would for an hour before coming home. As he was headed down to the river, he heard a bunch of voices. They were his classmates. Before he could say, “Going down the river?”, one of the boys started to mock him. Soon the other boys joined in as well.

Giovanni also noticed that Campanella was with them. He was silent with a “rather pained smile on his face”. It looked to Giovanni that Campanella might have said, “You won’t be angry, will you?” Giovanni passed by the group of boys as they continued to whistle and shouted things at him.

Giovanni felt so lonely that he just started to run. He had forgotten his promise to his mother about bringing home some milk. His only thought was, “I don’t have anywhere to play and be happy” and was thinking “and the others treat me like an animal”.

He continued running and stopped on a bridge to catch his breath. He “felt like crying but knew he shouldn’t”. After a short rest, he started to run again and ran up a hill that was located behind a farm. At the top of the hill, Giovanni looked to the sky and saw the Milky Way.

While Giovanni was standing at the top of the hill, he heard a voice saying, “Milky Way Station! Milky Way Station!”. The next thing Giovanni knows is that he is on the Milky Way Express. Not only that, his friend Campanella is also on the train.

Unbeknownst to Giovanni, Campanella has already drowned and he is on the train of death. The train stops at various places with people getting on and off but Giovanni will be the only person to return to Earth.

Although Giovanni met other passengers on the train, he felt a deep sadness when the got off. At least Campanella was with him. As the train continued its journey, Campanella looked out the window and shouted, “Hey, don’t those fields look great, and everyone’s gathered there, and - that must be Heaven itself! And there’s my mother!”

Giovanni looked to where Campanella was pointing but all he saw was dim white smoke and two telephones across a river band that looked as if their arms were embraced. Giovanni was feeling an indescribable loneliness and said to his friend, “Campanella, we’ll stick together, right?” but when he turned to look at his friend, there was no Campanella, “only the dark green velvet seat”.

The most important message Miyazawa was trying to get across with this story is about having compassion for other people. Although Miyazawa’s characters live in a rural town in Iwate Prefecture in Japan, he gave them Italian names to give the story universal appeal. Miyazawa teaches us through Giovanni, that we all have our own paths to walk and it is up to yourself to find happiness.