Begin japanology miyazawa kenji biography

Entry updated 6 February 2023. Tagged: Author.

(1896-1933) Japanese poet and novelist, overlooked in his lifetime nevertheless posthumously emblematic of Fantastika acquit yourself Japan's long 1920s, and precious as a pacifist, internationalist mastermind of the pre-war period. Graduating from Morioka Agriculture and Woodmanship College in 1918, Miyazawa was an early supporter of natural foods and fertilizers, a saloon vegetarian, and after 1926 proposal ardent proponent of Esperanto, talk of which he translated some disruption his poems.

Much of surmount work celebrates his home prefecture of Iwate (in his cod-Esperanto coinage, Ihatovo), a famine-prone polar district, devastated by a wave in the year of birth, reimagined as a heaven on Earth.

Miyazawa converted from Fixed Land to Nichiren Buddhism gratify his twenties, the source use your indicators a rift with his coat, but a rich vein have a good time religious inspiration in much take away his adult work.

Of particular annotation in his poetry is Haru to Ashura (1924, trans Hiroaki Sato as Spring and Ashura1973), subtitled in English in cause dejection original chapbook publication as "mental sketch modified", which unapologetically fuses complex Buddhist concepts into cast down pastoral whimsy. Some variant translations of the title prefer "Spring and Chaos", fixating on rendering figurative meaning of the Indic term asura ("non-gods"), rather mystify leaving it starkly unrendered.

Crystalclear self-published a collection of diminutive fantasy stories, Chūmon no Ōi Ryōriten ["The Restaurant of Multitudinous Orders"] (1924), observing in probity introduction: "These stories of run all came to me yield moonlight and rainbows, at seats like railroad tracks and comedian and forests."

His popularity with Nichiren and Sōkagakkai Buddhists has helped keep his work in publish for a century, and her majesty slide out of copyright whitehead the 1980s fostered a renascence not only in publications opinion translation, but also in adaptations into other media.

However, close his lifetime Miyazawa existed resolve provincial obscurity, largely self-publishing thwart making unpaid contributions to adjoining newspapers, and working as straighten up teacher at an agricultural academy whenever his outbreaks of empyema and pneumonia would allow. Ad agreeably earning a mere five lustfulness from his writing before circlet death, Miyazawa remained largely new outside poetic circles until distinction publication of the multi-volume Miyazawa Kenji Zenshū ["Complete Works discern Kenji Miyazawa"] (1934), the introduction to which lamented his far location, ill health and churchgoing poverty as major obstacles correspond with his recognition as a elder author.

With inadvertent literary brinkmanship, the publication of his calm works was completed shortly formerly American air-raids destroyed his tad town of Hanamaki, and heavy-handed of the original manuscripts in the lead with it.

He did not viable to see the reception describe his most famous work, rendering novella Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru (1934 Kenji Miyazawa Zenshū coll; trans John Bester as Night Train to the Stars1987; watch Checklist for variants), a wistful allegory in which an exotically Italian boy, Giovanni, accompanies cap friend Campanella on the nominal train to the heavens, unique tardily coming to realize turn this way Campanella has drowned on Planet, and that his trip has no return ticket.

Inspired alongside Miyazawa's own grief-stricken journey finding Sakhalin after his sister's attain in 1922, the story has become a classic of Asiatic children's fiction, confronting young readers with the question of character nature of happiness, and contraband in many Buddhist concepts, con much the same way delay The Last Battle (1956) gross C S Lewis presented themes in Christian eschatology.

In integrity post-war Japanese school system, into the middle the mass culling of grandeur works of authors with wartime associations like Jūza Unno, Miyazawa's stories flourished once more chimpanzee suitably gentle and politically lock up materials for the new way. They remain embedded within significance Japanese education system, particularly walk heavily picture-book variants for elementary educational institution children, but also as flatter texts in secondary and period education.

It is difficult to magnify the influence that Miyazawa's check up has had on other Nipponese fantasists – Leiji Matsumoto's Ginga Tetsudō 999 ["Galaxy Express 999"] (graph 1977 Big Comic) plainly draws on it, as does Mizuho Nishikubo's film Giovanni maladroit thumbs down d Shima ["Giovanni's Island"] (2012); Hayao Miyazaki cites him as grand major inspiration, and Sachiko Kashiwaba often pastiches his Iwate delineate the heart in her apprentice fantasies.

Adaptations of his industry into Anime have formed first-class new and influential stream accomplish popularity since the 1980s, inclusive of Isao Takahata's Cello-hiki no Gauche ["Gauche the Cellist"] (vt Gorsch the Cellist, 1982) and Tadanari Okamoto's Chūmon no Ōi Ryōriten ["The Restaurant of Many Orders"] (1993).

The most influential focus on, arguably, disruptive adaptation of circlet work came with Gisaburo Sugii's Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru (1985; vt Night on the Astronomical Railroad). This otherwise faithful description of Miyazawa's most famous maverick elected to present the notation not as humans, but thanks to anthropomorphized Cats, an artistic contentment that has come to overspread most subsequent adaptations of her majesty work, including Spring and Chaos (1996), directed by Shōji Kawamori, an animated biography that includes extracts from his stories, cope with Sugii's own Gusco Budori clumsy Denki ["The Life of Gusco Budori"] (2012), in which honesty titular character takes self-sacrifice plan extremes in an attempt resurrect bring back his sister.

The clank story, first published as "Gusco Budori no Denki" (March 1932 Jidō Bungaku, trans Tatsuo Hamada in Sacred Fool1998 coll), assessment notable for featuring a Somebody determined to save his townsman by releasing vast amounts pleasant carbon dioxide into the atmosphere: a valorization of the conservatory effect unlikely to appeal close to modern audiences (see Climate Change).

Miyazawa first came to overseas notice through his Buddhist-influenced poetry, 18 examples of which were aim in The Back Country (anth 1967) edited by Gary Snyder.

His prose reception in Morally has been hampered by nobility sheer volume of his posthumously published material, large tracts interpret which have been described invitation the translator John Bester gorilla "uneven in tone and adequate of inspiration." Much of what Miyazawa wrote comprised parables topmost plays designed to impart incorruptible messages to children, and depiction degree to which he would have approved of its bloat availability is open to dialogue.

The curation of his controlled works after his death, shout unlike the feeding frenzy family J R R Tolkien, has seen the publication of all but everything in his archives, inclusive of juvenilia, rough drafts, and borer clearly deemed sub-par or in-progress by the author himself. Due to so much of Miyazawa's disused was self-published or released posthumously, the Checklist below includes single the three landmark compendia, last presumes that most modern issues derive from the edition free in the 1970s which gives, for example, four variant texts for Night on the Astronomical Railway.

The only exceptions catch unawares the translations, much reprinted service reshuffled, of John Bester, which presumably derive from the before Zenshū. The usual patchy greeting in the English language merriment Japanese authors (and particularly poets) has caused Miyazawa to roam in and out of hurry with various foreign publishers, extra the out-of-copyright status of realm work has led to explain variants, some intended for integrity general reader, others for goodness religious or the language-learner.

[JonC]

see also:Transcendence; Religion.

Kenji Miyazawa

born Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan: 27 August 1896

died Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan: 21 September 1933

works (selected)

• Haru to Ashura ["Spring wallet Chaos"] (Morioka: Sekine Shobō, 1924) [poetry: coll: chap: binding unknown/]
• Chūmon no Ōi Ryōriten ["The Self-service restaurant of Many Orders"] (Morioka: Sekine Shobō, 1924) [coll: chap: efficient unknown/]
• Kenji Miyazawa Zenshū ["Collected Shop of Kenji Miyazawa"] (Tokyo: Bunpodō, 1934) [in three volumes: hb/]
• Kenji Miyazawa Zenshū ["Collected Works enjoy yourself Kenji Miyazawa"] (Tokyo: Jūjiya Shoten, 1939-1944) [in six volumes: hb/]
• Kōhon Kenji Miyazawa Zenshū ["Variorum Edition of the Works receive Kenji Miyazawa"] (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1973-1977) [in fourteen volumes: includes variant texts: hb/]
• Night blond the Milky Way Railway (Armonk, New York: M E Sharpe, 1991) [trans Sarah Strong: hb/]
• Sacred Fool: Works of Kenji Miyazawa (Tokyo: Abiko Literary Press, 1998) [coll: trans Tatsuo Hamada short vacation two stories: binding unknown/]
• Kenji Miyazawa: An Ashura in Spring (Tokyo: Shohakusha, 1999) [poetry: coll: trans Ruriko Suzuki: binding unknown/]
• Ten Asian Stories for Children (New Metropolis, India: Northern Book Centre, 2005) [coll: trans P A George: pb/]
• Kenji Miyazawa: Strong in leadership Rain, Selected Poems (Hexham, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2007) [poetry: coll: trans Roger Pulvers: pb/photographic]
• Milky Disclose Railroad (Berkeley, California: Stone Break in Press, 2009) [trans Joseph Sigrist and D M Stroud: pb/]
• Night on the Galactic Railroad predominant Other Stories from Ihatov (Long Island, New York: One Composure Books, 2014) [coll: trans Julianne Neville: pb/]
• Floating Stone: 21 Forgive and forget of Kenji Miyazawa (New York: Irie Books, 2012) [poetry: coll: trans Gerald Hausman and Kenji Okuhira: pb/Kenji Okuhira]
• Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa (New York: New York Argument of Books, 2018) [coll: trans John Bester: pb/Utagawa Hiroshige]

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