Kenji Miyazawa
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was a
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
novelist and poet of
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
from
Hanamaki, Iwate is a city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is . Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace of Kenji Miyazaw ...
, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...
,
cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...
, devout Buddhist, and utopian
social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...
.Curley, Melissa Anne-Marie, "Fruit, Fossils, Footprints: Cathecting Utopia in the Work of Miyazawa Kenji", in Daniel Boscaljon (ed.)
''Hope and the Longing for Utopia: Futures and Illusions in Theology and Narrative''
James Clarke & Co./ /Lutterworth Press 2015. pp.96–118, p.96.
Some of his major works include ''
Night on the Galactic Railroad , sometimes translated as ''Milky Way Railroad'', ''Night Train to the Stars'' or ''Fantasy Railroad in the Stars'', is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1 ...
'', '' Kaze no Matasaburō'', ''
Gauche the Cellist is a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small-town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English, ...
'', and ''
The Night of Taneyamagahara is a short anime film directed by Kazuo Oga and released by Studio Ghibli. A DVD version was released for Japan on July 7, 2006. It is based on a short story of the same name by Kenji Miyazawa.This was a personal film for director Oga, as he cit ...
''. Miyazawa converted to
Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...
after reading the
Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
, and joined the
Kokuchūkai The is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist group. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as and renamed in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914. History The lay Nichiren Buddhist organization''Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten'' arti ...
, a Nichiren Buddhist organization. His religious and social beliefs created a rift between him and his wealthy family, especially his father, though after his death his family eventually followed him in converting to Nichiren Buddhism. Miyazawa founded the Rasu Farmers Association to improve the lives of peasants in Iwate Prefecture. He was also interested in
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
and translated some of his poems into that language.David Poulson
Miyazawa Kenji
/ref> He died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
in 1933. Almost totally unknown as a poet in his lifetime, Miyazawa's work gained its reputation posthumously, Makoto Ueda
''Modern Japanese Poets and the Nature of Literature''
Stanford University Press, 1983 pp.184–320, p.184
and enjoyed a boom by the mid-1990s on his centenary.Kilpatrick 2014, pp. 11–25. A museum dedicated to his life and works was opened in 1982 in his hometown. Many of his children's stories have been adapted as
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, most notably ''
Night on the Galactic Railroad , sometimes translated as ''Milky Way Railroad'', ''Night Train to the Stars'' or ''Fantasy Railroad in the Stars'', is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1 ...
''. Many of his
tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short p ...
and free verse poetry, translated into many languages, are still popular today.


Biography

Miyazawa was born in the town of
Hanamaki is a Cities of Japan, city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is . Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace ...
,''
Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan The ''Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan'' is a comprehensive English-language encyclopedia first published in 1983 that covers a broad range of topics on Japan. History First published by Kodansha in 1983 followed by a supplemental volume in 198 ...
'' article "Miyazawa Kenji" (p. 222–223). 1983. Tokyo: Kodansha.
Iwate, the eldest son. of a wealthy pawnbroking couple, Masajirō and his wife Ichi.Massimo Cimarelli (ed.tr.)
''Miyazawa Kenji: Il drago e il poeta''
Volume Edizioni srl, 2014 p.3
Keene 1999, p. 284. The family were also pious followers of the Pure Land Sect, as were generally the farmers in that district. His father, from 1898 onwards, organized regular meetings in the district where monks and Buddhist thinkers gave lectures and Miyazawa, together with his younger sister, took part in these meetings from an early age. The area was an impoverished rice-growing region, and he grew to be troubled by his family's interest in money-making and social status. Miyazawa was a keen student of natural history from an early age, and also developed an interest as a teenager in poetry, coming under the influence of a local poet,
Takuboku Ishikawa was a Japanese poet. Well known as both a tanka and or poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism. He died of tuberculosis. Major wo ...
. After graduating from middle school, he helped out in his father's pawnshop. By 1918, he was writing in the
tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short p ...
genre, and had already composed two tales for children. At
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
he converted to the ''Hokke'' sect after reading the
Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
, a move which was to bring him into conflict with his father. In 1918, he graduated from . He embraced vegetarianism in the same year. A bright student, he was then given a position as a special research student in geology, developing an interest in soil science and in fertilizers. Later in 1918, he and his mother went to
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
to look after his younger sister , who had fallen ill while studying in
Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighb ...
He returned home after his sister had recovered early the following year.Keene 1999, pp. 284–285. As a result of differences with his father over religion, his repugnance for commerce, and the family pawnshop business in particular (he yielded his inheritance to his younger brother Seiroku), he left Hanamaki for Tokyo in January 1921. There, he joined
Tanaka Chigaku was a Japanese Buddhist scholar and preacher of Nichiren Buddhism, orator, writer and ultranationalist propagandist in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He is considered to be the father of Nichirenism, the fiercely ultranationalist ...
's
Kokuchūkai The is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist group. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as and renamed in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914. History The lay Nichiren Buddhist organization''Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten'' arti ...
, and spent several months in dire poverty preaching Nichiren Buddhism in the streets. After eight months in Tokyo, he took once more to writing children's stories, this time prolifically, under the influence of another Nichiren priest, Takachiyo Chiyō, who dissuaded him from the priesthood by convincing him that Nichiren believers best served their faith by striving to embody it in their profession. He returned to Hanamaki due to the renewed illness of his beloved younger sister.Keene 1999, p. 285. At this time he became a teacher at the Agricultural School in Hanamaki. On November 27, 1922, Toshi finally succumbed to her illness and died at age 24. This was a traumatic shock for Miyazawa, from which he never recovered. He composed three poems on the day of her death, collectively entitled .Miyakubo and Matsukawa 2013, p. 169. He found employment as a teacher in
agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...
at Hanamaki Agricultural High School (花巻農学校). He managed to put out a collection of poetry, in April 1924, thanks to some borrowings and a major subvention from a producer of
nattō , spelled as natto in standard English language use, is a traditional Japanese food made from whole soybeans that have been fermented with ''Bacillus subtilis'' var. ''natto''. It is often served as a breakfast food with rice. It is served wi ...
. His collection of children's stories and fairy tales, '' Chūmon no Ōi Ryōriten'' (注文の多い料理店, "The Restaurant of Many Orders"), also self-published, came out in December of the same year. Although neither were commercial successes — they were largely ignored — his work did come to the attention of the poets
Kōtarō Takamura was a Japanese poet and sculptor. Biography Takamura was the eldest son of Japanese sculptor Takamura Kōun was a Japanese sculptor who exerted himself for the modernization of wood carving and a professor of Tokyo School of Fine Arts, wh ...
and Shinpei Kusano, who admired his writing greatly and introduced it to the literary world. As a teacher, his students viewed him as passionate but rather eccentric, as he insisted that learning came through actual, firsthand experience of things. He often took his students out of the classroom, not only for training, but just for enjoyable walks in the hills and fields. He also had them put on plays they wrote themselves. Kenji resigned his post as a teacher in 1926 to become a farmer and help improve the lot of the other farmers in the impoverished north-eastern region of Japan by sharing his theoretical knowledge of agricultural science,Keene 1999, p. 288. by imparting to them improved, modern techniques of cultivation. He also taught his fellow farmers more general topics of cultural value, such as music, poetry, and whatever else he thought might improve their lives. He introduced them to classical music by playing to audiences compositions from Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner and Debussy on his gramophone.Margaret Mitsutani, "The Regional as the Center: The Poetry of Miyazawa Kenji", in Klaus Martens, Paul Duncan Morris, Arlette Warken (eds.
''A World of Local Voices: Poetry in English Today''
Königshausen & Neumann, 2003 pp.66–72 p.67.
In August 1926 he established the . When asked what "Rasuchijin" meant, he said it meant nothing in particular, but he was probably thinking of and . He introduced new agricultural techniques and more resistant strains of rice. At the detached house of his family, where he was staying at the time, he gathered a group of youths from nearby farming families and lectured on
agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...
. The Rasuchijin Society also engaged in literary readings, plays, music and other cultural activities. It was disbanded after two years as Japan was being swept up by a militarist turn, in 1928, when the authorities closed it down. Not all of the local farmers were grateful for his efforts, with some sneering at the idea of a city-slicker playing farmer, and others expressing disappointment that the fertilizers Kenji introduced were not having the desired effects.Keene 1999, p. 289. He advocated natural fertilizers, while many preferred a Western chemical 'fix', which, when it failed, did not stop many from blaming Kenji. Their reservations may have also persisted as he hadn't wholly broken from economic dependence on his father, to whom farmers were often indebted when their crops failed, in addition to his defection to the Lotus Sect soured their view, as farmers in his area were, like his own father, adherents of the Pure Land Sect. Kenji in turn did not hold an ideal view of the farmers; in one of his poems he describes how a farmer bluntly tells him that all his efforts have done no good for anyone.Keene 1999, p. 289, citing (note 197, p. 379) ''Miyazawa Kenji'' 1968, p. 311–314. According to Sibayama Zyun'iti, he started learning
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
in 1926, but never reached a high level in the language.Miyamoto Masao and Sibayama Zyun'iti
Poemoj de MIYAZAWA Kenzi, memtradukitaj esperanten
/ref> He also studied English and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
. At some point he translated some of his poems into Esperanto; the translated pieces were published in 1953, long after his death. According to
Jouko Lindstedt Jouko Lindstedt (born in 1955) is a Finnish linguist and a professor at the University of Helsinki. Lindstedt is a member of the Academy of Esperanto and was nominated as the Esperantist of the Year in 2000 (with Hans Bakker and Mauro La Torre ) by ...
, Kenji was made interested in Esperanto by the finnish scientist and esperantist
Gustaf John Ramstedt Gustaf John Ramstedt (October 22, 1873 – November 25, 1950) was a Finnish diplomat, orientalist and linguist. He was also an early Finnish Esperantist, and chairman of the Esperanto-Association of Finland. Biography Ramstedt was born in Ekenä ...
, who was working as a diplomat for Finland in Japan.Jouko Lindstedt
Scientisto, diplomato, esperantisto
(part 2)
Kenjis writings from this period show sensitivity for the land and for the people who work in it. A prolific writer of children's stories, many that appear superficially to be light or humorous, all contain stories intended for moral education of the reader. He wrote some works in prose and some stage plays for his students and left behind a large amount of ''
tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short p ...
'' and
free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Definit ...
, most of which was discovered and published posthumously. His poetry, which has been translated into numerous languages, has a considerable following to this day. A number of his children’s works have been made into animated movies,
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, in Japan. He showed little interest in romantic love or sex, both in his private life and in his literary work.Pulvers 2007, pp. 9–28. "Kenji, it must be remembered, was a man who displayed no particular interest in romantic love or sex." Keene, though, states "he sometimes wandered all night in the wood in order in order to subdue the waves of sexual desire e sensed within himself (Keene 1999, p. 288). Kenji's close friend wrote that he died a virgin.Keene 1999, p. 288, citing (note 193, p. 379) Seki 1971, pp. 130–132.


Illness and death

Kenji fell ill in summer 1928, and by the end of that year this had developed into acute
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
.Keene 1999, pp. 289–290. He once wept on learning that he had been tricked into eating carp liver.Keene 1999, p. 290, citing (note 198, p. 379) Kushida, "Shijin to Shōzō" in ''Miyazawa Kenji'' 1968, p. 393. He struggled with
pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
for many years and was often incapacitated for months at a time. His health improved nonetheless sufficiently for him to take on consultancy work with a rock-crushing company in 1931. The respite was brief; by September of that year, on a visit to Tokyo, he caught pneumonia and had to return to his hometown. In the autumn of 1933, his health seemed to have improved enough for him to watch a local
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
procession from his doorway; a group of local farmers approached him and engaged him in conversation about fertilizer for about an hour.Keene 1999, p. 291. He died the following day, having been exhausted by the length of his discussion with the farmers. On his deathbed he asked his father to print 1,000 copies of the Lotus Sutra for distribution. His family initially had him buried in the family temple , but when they converted to
Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...
in 1951, he was moved to the Nichiren temple . After his death, he became known in his district as Kenji-
bosatsu is the Japanese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ''bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path to ...
(賢治菩薩).


Early writings

Kenji started writing poetry as a schoolboy, and composed over a thousand ''
tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short p ...
'' beginning at roughly age 15, in January 1911, a few weeks after the publication of Takuboku's "A Handful of Sand". He favoured this form until the age of 24. Keene said of these early poems that they "were crude in execution, utthey already prefigure the fantasy and intensity of emotion that would later be revealed in his mature work". Kenji was removed physically from the poetry circles of his day.Keene 1999, p. 283. He was an avid reader of modern Japanese poets such as Hakushū Kitahara and
Sakutarō Hagiwara was a Japanese writer of free verse, active in the Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. He liberated Japanese free verse from the grip of traditional rules, and he is considered the "father of modern colloquial poetry in Japan". He publis ...
, and their influence can be traced on his poetry, but his life among farmers has been said to have influenced his poetry more than these literary interests.Keene 1999, pp. 283–284. When he first started writing modern poetry, he was influenced by Kitahara, as well as his fellow Iwatean
Takuboku Ishikawa was a Japanese poet. Well known as both a tanka and or poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism. He died of tuberculosis. Major wo ...
Kenji's works were influenced by contemporary trends of
romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
and the
proletarian literature Proletarian literature refers here to the literature created by left-wing writers mainly for the class-consciousness, class-conscious proletariat. Though the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that because it "is essentially an intended device of ...
movement. His readings in Buddhist literature, particularly the
Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
, to which he became devoted, also came to have a strong influence on his writings. In 1919, his sister prepared a collection of 662 of his ''tanka'' for publication. Kenji edited a volume of extracts from
Nichiren Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of ...
’s writings, the year before he join the Kokuchūkai (see below). He largely abandoned tanka by 1921, and turned his hand instead to the composition of free verse, involving an extension of the conventions governing tanka verse forms. He is said also to have written three thousand pages a month worth of children's stories during this period, thanks to the advice of a priest in the Nichiren order, Takachiyo Chiyō. At the end of the year he managed to sell one of these stories for five yen, which was the only payment he received for his writings during his own lifetime.


Later poetry

The "charms of Kenji's poetry", critic Makota Ueda writes, include "his high idealism, his intensely ethical life, his unique cosmic vision, his agrarianism, his religious faith, and his rich and colorful vocabulary." Ultimately, Ueda writes, "they are all based in a dedicated effort to unify the heterogeneous elements of modern life into a single, coherent whole." It was in 1922 that Kenji began composing the poetry that would make up his first collection, '' Haru to Shura''. The day his sister died, November 27, 1922, he composed three long poems commemorating her, which Keene states to be among the best of his work. Keene also remarks that the speed at which Kenji composed these poems was characteristic of the poet, as a few months prior he had composed three long poems, one more than 900 lines long, in three days.Keene 1999, pp. 285–286. The first of these poems on the death of his sister was , which was the longest.Keene 1999, p. 286. Keene calls it the most affecting of the three. It is written in the form of a "dialogue" between Kenji and Toshi (or Toshiko, as he often calls her). Several lines uttered by his sister are written in a regional dialect so unlike
Standard Japanese is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...
that Kenji provided translations at the end of the poem.Keene 1999, p. 287. The poem lacks any kind of regular meter, but draws its appeal from the raw emotion it expresses; Keene suggests that Kenji learned this poetic technique from
Sakutarō Hagiwara was a Japanese writer of free verse, active in the Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. He liberated Japanese free verse from the grip of traditional rules, and he is considered the "father of modern colloquial poetry in Japan". He publis ...
. Kenji could write a huge volume of poetry in a short time, based mostly on impulse, seemingly with no preconceived plan of how long the poem would be and without considering future revisions.
Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...
has speculated that his love of music affected the poetry he was writing in 1922, as this was when he started collecting records of western music, particularly
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
and
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
. Much of his poetic tone derives from
synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...
involving music becoming color, especially after the period 1921 and 1926 when he started listening to music of
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
,
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
and
Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually ref ...
. He was associated with the poetry magazine .Keene 1999, p. 356 (also note 347, p. 384). Only the first part in four of ''Haru to Shura'' was published during Kenji's lifetime. It appeared in an edition of one thousand copies, but only one hundred sold. For most of his literary career his poems saw publication only in local papers and magazines, but by the time of his death major literary publications had been made aware of him; he died just as his fame was beginning to spread. With the exception of a few poems in classical Japanese written near the end of his life, virtually all Myazawa'a modern poetry was in colloquial Japanese, occasionally even in dialect. The poems included in ''Haru to Shura'' include a liberal sprinkling of scientific vocabulary, Sanskrit phrases, Sino-Japanese compounds and even some Esperanto words. After starting out with traditional ''tanka'', he developed a preference for long, free verse, but continued to occasionally compose ''tanka'' even as late as 1921. Kenji wrote his most famous poem, " Ame ni mo makezu", in his notebook on November 3, 1931.Keene 1999, p. 290. Keene was dismissive of the poetic value of the poem, stating that it is "by no means one of Miyazawa's best poems" and that it is "ironic that tshould be the one poem for which he is universally known", but that the image of a sickly and dying Kenji writing such a poem of resolute self-encouragement is striking.


Later fiction

Kenji wrote rapidly and tirelessly. He wrote a great number of children's stories, many of them intended to assist in moral education. His best-known stories include , , , , , , and


Other writings

In 1919, Kenji edited a volume of extracts from the writings of Nichiren, and in December 1925Nabeshima (ed.) 2005, p. 34. a in the ''
Iwate Nippo is a Japanese regional daily newspaper published mainly in Iwate prefecture. The company is based in Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estima ...
'' under a pseudonym. He was also a frequent letter-writer.


Religious beliefs

Kenji was born into a family of
Pure Land Buddhists Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most widel ...
, but in 1915 converted to
Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...
upon reading the
Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
and being captivated by it. His conversion created a rift with his relatives, but he nevertheless became active in trying to spread the faith of the Lotus Sutra, walking the streets crying ''
Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō ''Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō'' () are Japanese words chanted within all forms of Nichiren Buddhism. In English, they mean "Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra" or "Glory to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra". The words refer to the Japanese ...
''. In January 1921 he made several unsuccessful attempts to convert his family to Nichiren Buddhism. From January to September 1921, he lived in Tokyo working as a street proselytizer for the
Kokuchūkai The is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist group. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as and renamed in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914. History The lay Nichiren Buddhist organization''Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten'' arti ...
, a Buddhist-
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
organizationStone 2003, pp. 197–198. that had initially turned down his service. The general consensus among modern Kenji scholars is that he became estranged from the group and rejected their nationalist agenda,Stone 2003, p. 198. but a few scholars such as Akira Ueda,
Gerald Iguchi Gerald is a male Germanic name, Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English language, English given name Jerrold, the Female, feminine nickname Jeri ...
and Jon Holt argue otherwise.Holt, 2014, pp. 312–314. The Kokuchūkai's official website continues to claim him as a member, also claiming that the influence of
Nichirenism Nichirenism (日蓮主義, ''Nichirenshugi'') is the nationalistic interpretation of the teachings of Nichiren. The most well known representatives of this form of Nichiren Buddhism are Nissho Inoue and Tanaka Chigaku, who construed Nichiren's tea ...
(the group's religio-political philosophy) can be seen in Kenji's later works such as ''Ame ni mo Makezu'', while acknowledging that others have expressed the view that Kenji became estranged from the group after returning to Hanamaki. Kenji remained a devotee of the Lotus Sutra until his death, and continued attempting to convert those around him. He made a deathbed request to his father to print one thousand copies of the sutra in Japanese translation and distribute them to friends and associates. Kenji incorporated a relatively large amount of Buddhist vocabulary in his poems and children's stories. He drew inspiration from mystic visions in which he saw the bodhisattva
Kannon Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...
, the Buddha himself and fierce demons. In 1925 Kenji pseudonymously published a in Hanamaki, which led to the construction of the present Shinshōji, but on his death his family, who were followers of Pure Land Buddhism, had him interred at a Pure Land temple. His family converted to Nichiren Buddhism in 1951 and moved his grave to Shinshōji, where it is located today.
Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...
suggests that while explicitly Buddhist themes are rare in his writings, he incorporated a relatively large amount of Buddhist vocabulary in his poems and children's stories, and has been noted as taking a far greater interest in Buddhism than other Japanese poets of the twentieth century. Keene also contrasted Kenji's piety to the "relative indifference to Buddhism" on the part of most modern Japanese poets.


Themes

He loved his native province, and the mythical landscape of his fiction, known by the generic neologism, coined in a poem in 1923, as ''Īhatōbu'' (''Ihatov'') is often thought to allude to ''Iwate'' (''Ihate'' in the older spelling). Several theories exist as to the possible derivations of this fantastic toponym: one theory breaks it down into a composite of ''I'' for 'Iwate'; ''hāto'' (English 'heart') and ''obu'' (English 'of'), yielding 'the heart or core of Iwate'. Others cite Esperanto and German forms as keys to the word's structure, and derive meanings varying from 'I don't know where' to 'Paradise'. Among the variation of names, there is ''Ihatovo'', and the addition of final ''o'' is supposed to be the noun ending of
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
, whose idea of common international language interested him.


Reception

Kenji's poetry managed to attract some attention during his lifetime. According to Hiroaki Sato, ''Haru to Shura'', which appeared in April 1924, "electrified several of the poets who read it." These included the first reviewer,
Dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...
Tsuji Jun, who wrote that he chose the book for his summer reading in the Japan Alps, and
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
, who called the book shocking and inspirational, and Satō Sōnosuke, who wrote in a review for a poetry magazine that it "astonished imthe most" out of all the books of poems he had received. However, such occasional murmurs of interest were a far cry from the chorus of praise later directed toward his poetry. In February 1934, some time after his memorial service, his literary friends held an event where they organized his unpublished manuscripts. These were slowly published over the following decade, and his fame increased rapidly in the postwar period. The poet
Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...
is credited as introducing Kenji's poetry to English readers. "In the 1960s, Snyder, then living in Kyoto and pursuing Buddhism, was offered a grant to translate Japanese literature. He sought
Burton Watson Burton Dewitt Watson (June 13, 1925April 1, 2017) was an American sinologist, translator, and writer known for his English translations of Chinese and Japanese literature.Stirling 2006, pg. 92 Watson's translations received many awards, includi ...
’s opinion, and Watson, a scholar of Chinese classics trained at the University of Kyoto, recommended Kenji." Some years earlier Jane Imamura at the Buddhist Study Center in Berkeley had shown him a Kenji translation which had impressed him. Snyder's translations of eighteen poems by Kenji appeared in his collection, ''The Back Country'' (1967). The Miyazawa Kenji Museum was opened in 1982 in his native Hanamaki, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death. It displays the few manuscripts and artifacts from Kenji's life that escaped the destruction of Hanamaki by American bombers in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In 1982,
Oh! Production , sometimes credited as Oh! Pro or Oh-Pro, is an anime production studio in Amanuma, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. It was established in May 1970 by animators Norio Shioyama, Kōichi Murata, Kazuo Komatsubara, and Kōshin Yonekawa. Former members ...
finished an animated feature film adaptation of Miyazawa's
Gauche the Cellist is a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small-town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English, ...
, with
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...
and
Buena Vista Home Entertainment Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Hiroshi Masumura is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his adaptations of Kenji Miyazawa's children novels, including his work on the anime film ''Night on the Galactic Railroad'' (1985), and for several manga series set in the fantasy universe '' ...
has adapted many of Miyazawa's stories as manga since the 1980s, often using anthropomorphic cats as protagonists. The 1985
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
adaptation of '' Ginga tetsudō no yoru'' (''Night on the Galactic Railroad''), in which all signs in Giovanni and Campanella's world are written in Esperanto, is based on Masumura's manga. In 1996, to mark the 100th anniversary of Kenji's birth, the
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
'' Īhatōbu Gensō: Kenji no Haru'' (''Ihatov Fantasy: Kenji's Spring''; North American title: ''
Spring and Chaos is a 1996 Japanese anime television special inspired by the life of poet Kenji Miyazawa, released in Japan to mark the 100th anniversary of Miyazawa's birth. It was directed by Shoji Kawamori. It was released in North America by Tokyopop. Miy ...
'') was released as a depiction of Kenji's life. As in the ''Night on the Galactic Railroad'' anime, the main characters are depicted as cats. The Japanese culture and lifestyle television show ''
Begin Japanology ''Weekend Japanology'', ''Begin Japanology'', and ''Japanology Plus'' are Japanese television programs aired on NHK World, and presented by Peter Barakan. The programs explore aspects of traditional and contemporary Japan and interview experts in ...
'' aired on
NHK World NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese state-controlled public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-ser ...
featured a full episode on Miyazawa Kenji in 2008. The JR train was restored with inspiration from and named in honor of his work in 2013. The 2015 anime
Punch Line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...
and its
video game adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography ...
features a self-styled hero who calls himself Kenji Miyazawa and has a habit of quoting his poetry when arriving on scene. When other characters wonder who he is after his sudden initial appearance, they point out that he cannot be the "poet who wrote books for kids" because he died in 1933.


See also

* '' The Nighthawk Star'' * Scenic areas of Ihatov


Notes


Reference list


Bibliography


Works in English translation

* Miyazawa, Kenji. ''The Milky Way Railroad''. Translated by Joseph Sigrist and D. M. Stroud. Stone Bridge Press (1996). * Miyazawa Kenji. ''Night of the Milky Way Railroad''. M.E. Sharpe (1991). * Miyazawa Kenji. ''The Restaurant of Many Orders''. RIC Publications (2006). * Miyazawa Kenji. ''Miyazawa Kenji Selections''. University of California Press (2007). * Miyazawa Kenji. ''Winds from Afar''. Kodansha (1992). * Miyazawa Kenji. ''The Dragon and the Poet''. translated by Massimo Cimarelli, Volume Edizioni (2013), ebook. * Miyazawa Kenji. ''The Dragon and the Poet – illustrated version''. Translated by Massimo Cimarelli. Illustrated by Francesca Eleuteri. Volume Edizioni (2013), ebook. * Miyazawa Kenji. ''Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa''. Translated by John Bester. Kodansha International (1994). * Snyder, Gary. ''The Back Country''. New York: New Directions, 1967.


Adaptations

* * * * *


Critical studies

* Cimarelli, Massimo. ''Miyazawa Kenji: A Short Biography'', Volume Edizioni (2013), ebook. ASIN B00E0TE83W. * Colligan-Taylor, Karen. ''The Emergence of Environmental Literature in Japan Environment'', Garland 1990 pp. 34ff. * Curley, Melissa Anne-Marie. "Fruit, Fossils, Footprints: Cathecting Utopia in the Work of Miyazawa Kenji", in Daniel Boscaljon (ed.)
''Hope and the Longing for Utopia: Futures and Illusions in Theology and Narrative''
James Clarke & Co./ /Lutterworth Press, 2015. 96-118. * Hara Shirō. ''Miyazawa Kenji Goi Jiten = Glossarial Dictionary of Miyazawa Kenji''. Tokyo: Tokyo Shoseki, 1989. * Holt, Jon. 2014
"Ticket to Salvation: Nichiren Buddhism in Miyazawa Kenji's ''Ginga tetsudō no yoru''"
''
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies The ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' is a biannual open access journal of research on religion in Japan. It was established in 1960 as ''Contemporary Religions in Japan'' by the International Institute for the Study of Religions in Tokyo ...
'' 41/2: 305–345. * (First Edition 1984; 1999 Columbia University Press paperback reprint cited in text) *Kikuchi, Yūko (菊地有子)
''Japanese Modernisation and Mingei Theory: Cultural Nationalism and Oriental Orientalism''
RoutledgeCurzon 2004 pp. 36ff. * Kilpatrick, Hele
''Miyazawa Kenji and His Illustrators: Images of Nature and Buddhism in Japanese Children's Literature''
BRILL, 2014. * Inoue, Kota "Wolf Forest, Basket Forest and Thief Forest", in Mason, Michele and Lee, Helen (eds.)
''Reading Colonial Japan: Text, Context, and Critique''
Stanford University Press, 2012 pp. 181–207, * Long, Hoy
''On Uneven Ground: Miyazawa Kenji and the Making of Place in Modern Japan''
Stanford University Press, 2011 *Mitsutani, Margaret, "The Regional as the Center: The Poetry of Miyazawa Kenji", in Klaus Martens, Paul Duncan Morris, Arlette Warken (eds.
''A World of Local Voices: Poetry in English Today''
Königshausen & Neumann, 2003 pp. 66–72. * * ''Miyazawa Kenji'' 1968. ''Nihon no Shiika'' series. Chūō Kōron Sha. * * *Napier, Susan
''The Fantastic in Modern Japanese Literature: The Subversion of Modernity''
Routledge 1996 pp. 141–178 * * Sato, Hiroaki. "Introduction". In Miyazawa Kenji. ''Miyazawa Kenji Selections''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. pp. 1–58. . * * Stone, Jacqueline. 2003
"By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: politics and the issue of the ordination platform in modern lay Nichiren Buddhism"
IN: Steven Heine; Charles S. Prebish (ed.) ''Buddhism in the Modern World''. New York: Oxford University Press. 2003. . pp 193–219. * Strong, Sarah. "The Reader's Guide" In Miyazawa Kenji, ''The Night of the Milky Way Railway''. Translated by Sarah Strong. New York: 1991. * Strong, Sarah. "The Poetry of Miyazawa Kenji". Thesis (Ph.D.), The University of Chicago, 1984. * Ueda, Makoto, ''Modern Japanese Poets and the Nature of Literature''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983.


External links



at
Aozora Bunko Aozora Bunko (, literally the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-o ...

The Miyazawa Kenji Museum in Hanamaki



Public Domain Audiobooks of Kenji Miyazawa's works
at Japanese Classical Literature at Bedtime * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miyazawa, Kenji 1896 births 1933 deaths 20th-century Japanese educators 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese poets 20th-century Japanese scientists 20th-century Buddhists Buddhist poets Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Japanese Buddhists Japanese children's writers Japanese Esperantists Japanese geologists Nichiren Buddhists People from Hanamaki, Iwate 20th-century geologists