A Japanese classic tale

—by Eri Izawa

GINGA TETSUDOU NO YORU is well-known in Japan as a classic in children's literature, so famous that almost every Japanese adult will have at least heard of it. To the newcomer coming from the anime/manga world, however, it may well be mistaken for the GINGA TETSUDOU 999 anime and manga series by Matsumoto Leiji (Nobita of the manga series DORAEMON once makes this very mistake!)

The resemblance is there: both "Milky Way Railroads" feature a mysterious train on a fantastic journey, a young passenger, and priceless lessons learned along the way.

Miyazawa's story, however, is the original. Deeply layered in beautiful text, symbolic meaning, and profound philosophy, it is little wonder it has become a literary classic. All this despite the fact Miyazawa's manuscript (published after his death) comes in many different versions, is incomplete, and is full of gaps!

The story's main character is a poor young schoolboy named Giovanni, whose father is possibly in jail (Giovanni doesn't think so), and whose mother is ill. Though picked on by other kids—with the exception of his friend Campanellula—Giovanni tries to maintain his pride, and is capable of escaping the humiliation by withdrawing into his imagination.

On the night of a festival, he winds up out alone in the dark fields, where he hears a voice calling, "Milky Way Station, Milky Way Station." Giovanni finds himself on board a train traveling beside a shimmering river that is the Milky Way. He travels with Campanellula.

As they ride, going from the Northern Cross to Cygnus and beyond (in fact, one critic observed, toward the center of the galaxy), they meet different people. Yet Giovanni is somehow special, for he alone of all the passengers carries some kind of pass that allows him to go anywhere at all, even beyond Heaven itself. When he realizes this, he begins to feel a new compassion and pity for all the others. He begins to feel that he can make any sacrifice for the happiness of other people. But what, he wonders, is true happiness?

The train's travels draw to a close and the characters dissapear. Even as Giovanni and Campanellula promise each other they would travel on together forever, Campanellula catches sight of a beautiful field in which he sees his mother; then he, too, is gone. Giovanni remains, alone again.

Giovanni awakens from this apparent dream and returns to town, where he discovers that Campanellula had drowned in a stream. He receives some comforting words from Campanellula's father about his own absent father, and then, his mind full of different thoughts, he goes home. But he goes home a changed person.

. . .

Many people have tried to unravel the layers and meanings in this story. Indeed, thanks to the number of different versions of the text, all the gaps, and the heavy symbolism, the task is difficult. Not all versions, for example, have the later versions' beginning and end, and an earlier version contains much more explicitly stated philosophy. Still, readers of GINGA TETSUDOU NO YORU agree that this work, possibly Miyazawa's best, is special for its beauty, meaning, and pure magic.

Based on the version published by: Kumon Publishing Co., Ltd. 1993
ISBN4-87576-713-7¥2000

The way throughout Milky Way

This is a story of some children always dreaming of traveling by train in the Milky Way, through all over the mysterious stars and lands. In that fantastic dream, every day, as for that small clean train, while flapping in the wind of the favorite the and others does, the water of the Milky Way and the blue of magical stations it was and in low light level, to everywhere the origin, it was to keep running to somewhere.

In courtesy of KAGAYA

The shore for Setting out:

Many hours passed, the train kept passing through many lands, but it seems that these worlds only really live at night. In day-time, the scenes is very supernormal, The Milky Way River no longer inflected the shadow of demoiselles caused by thick nebulosities, the flowers covered itseft under the sun lights. All of creatures, all of plants, all of stars seem to be getting into dreams, a twelve-hour dream.

Fantasy Railroad in autumn:

"Look, gentian flowers are in full bloom. It's quite autumn now," said Campanella, pointing out of the window. Among short grasses along the railroad, they saw plenty of pretty purple gentian flowers which looked as if they had been carved out of moon-stone. "I'd try to get off and get back with them?" said Giovanni excitedly.

"It's too late. They've gone away."
No sooner had Campanella said so than another mass of shining gentians went away. And the next moment, one after another, countless cups of gentian flowers with yellow bottoms went away springing up or showering down. Meanwhile, lights of sankaku-hyos are endlessly in line along their way, some blurred, some blazing.

One after another and countless cups of gentian flowers with yellow bottoms went away springing up or showering down with the wind. Mean while, the lights are endlessly in line along train’s way, some blurred and some blazing. All passing by before the eye like a dream, a dream which is still shining more and more...

Northen Cross:

Suddenly, the inside of the train was filled with white light.They looked out to the Milky Way river.Through the transparent water flowing silently, the river-bed looked so gorgeous as to be filled with diamond, dew on a leaf and everything magnificent and beautiful. In the middle of the river, was an island with a round arch of dimly pale halo above it. On the level top of the island, did stand a brilliant and amazing white Cross, quietly and eternally, surrounded by the golden aureole as majestic as if it had been cast from a frozen cloud in the Arctic.

On the level tophill of the island, did stand a brilliant and amazing White Cross, quietly and eternally and surrounded by the golden aureole as majestic as if it had been cast from the frozen clouds in the North Pole of Milky Way.

The way to Fantasy Railroad:

Fantasy Railroad runs through the field of light of stars. It is not in cosmic space which is empty of anything, but in the world which is full of such familiar things as grasses, flowers, birds, utility poles and signals. The water of the river is ever so transparent as to be invisible, whereas creatures like fish live in it. There stand countless sankaku-hyos, which are supposed to be the marks for someone to devote himself to making a map of the world. While a scholar tries to dig fossils out of stratums in order to prove that the world has really been there. When we try to observe the world, however, we see nothing but vacuum of space with only stars floating in the sky. I wonder how our real world look, in return, when they observe toward us far from their invisible world.

“This scene looks so familiar with our home world, I wonder if we have returned to the Earth?” Campanella said, she bent her eyes to the birds wacthing her train passing. And a strange signal helped her realize that she was not on her planet for sure when she looked at the sky - She could not find a thing that is always on the night sky - the Moon Light . . .

Travelling of stars round:

“Yes. Oh and look! Is that riverside lightened by the moonlight?” Giovanni turned his face and saw silvery pampas grasses moving and fluttering and waving all around. “No and the moon is not here. We see them shining by themselves because we are in the Milky Way.” Saying so, She felt something of great joy, whistled a melody of “Traveling in the stars”, tapped the floor with his feet and then put his head out of the window stretching his neck full to see what the water of the Milky Way really is. He could not see anything at first. But gradually he came to see the water was more transparent than crystal and hydrogen and was flowing silently with ripples shining in purple and at times with waves sparkling in rainbow colors...

Meanwhile, the train was running among many sankaku-hyo towers standing with beautiful phosphorescent lights.

Many carpets of daisy wobbling in the wind, release thousands of scintillating pistils into the air. Transparent water reflected a swarm of demoiselle returning to their nest, after a whole flying-day.

Southern Cross:

Just then, they saw, in the downstream of transparent Milky Way, the holly Cross stand like a grand tree, glittering in blue, orange and every other color, and behind its back, pale white clouds shining around like a grand halo. There came an air of moving in the whole train. Everyone began to pray, standing straight, just as they had done at Northern Cross. There filled, everywhere in the train, voices of joy like those of delighted children and tones of deep and reverent sigh.

Gradually the window came closer to the front of the Cross and suddenly the whole saloon was covered with dazzling lights so even people in the train couldn’t see each other They could only see the pale white clouds revolving very slowly and shining like great star.

Fire of Scorpion:

“Yes and it is. Look! Those Triangular marks made a shape of a scorpion.” Giovanni shouted, beyond the huge fire and three towers formed arms of a scorpion and other five triangular marks formed a tail with a sting making a curve toward him. And at the center, the brilliantly beautiful red fire was burning silently and brightly and ever so brightly.

“I can’t believe it. What a mighty wonder!“
“Yep, look at that horrendous fire, I’m afraid that it can burn up all the universe!”

Scorpion, the mightiest asterism around the solar, standing in front of the child’s eyes. They had never seen such a glorious thing like that. Everyone in the train, even the driver, standing dumbstruckly before the great ascendancy from the Fire of Scorpion.

Destination: The Blue Planet

Iron wheels were rotating silently, the train passing a still space. The children were sleeping, they were quite tired of such great scenes, and the track would not last longer too.... Incidentally, Giovanni waked up, he put his head out of the window. “Where are we ?”

Before his eye, there was only a profound black zone of the infinity universe. But when he turned his face to the train tail, he shouted:

“Campanella, wake up, come here and take a look, is that the Milky Way?”

The girl sit up and head to the window. Behind the train there was a tiny symbol of the grand universe, an art work with numberless stars and colors. “Yeah that’s it, we have passes through it, the magical worlds”. Then both of them looked at the front, a blue, familiar planet gradually coming behind the shadowy dew. “I will never forget this fantastic passage”. Whispered Campanella, “So will I, my friend”, Giovanni agreed. The blue planet become larger and larger, and the train kept passing. . . .