The Museum is a 10-minute walk from the bus stop. “Sometimes I translated too far away from the text,” Strong said. Tono’s local legends and stories were mostly passed down orally, until they were collected and published into a book, “Legends of Tono” in 1910. “Night on the Galactic Railroad” is a deeper, dreamlike tale about a troubled boy riding a train from earth to the heavens and back. Uncertain setting, nuanced tone, resounding sonic energy, a backdrop of tragedy, confounding religious allegory. 60/100 (C+) On the night of a cat village Festival of the Stars, a kitten and his friend go on an celestial journey on a magical space locomotive. Nambu ironware is a traditional cast iron craft from Iwate Prefecture, and is considered by many to be one of the best metalwork in Japan. Night on the Galactic Railroad is a soothing, hypnotic film for me, which is odd because it’s intended to play as a devastatingly somber fantasy drama. For me, this is definitely a must-see when riding the SL Ginga. The back of the postcard also has illustrations of the specially decorated station signboards for the stations that the SL Ginga stops at. As the SL Ginga runs in Iwate, many of the ekiben feature seafood caught from the Sanriku Coast. It’s a novel that defies clear identification with any one time, place, or ideology. One of only two steam locomotive (SL) trains running in the Tohoku Region, the magical SL Ginga (SL 銀河) brings to life Miyazawa Kenji’s beloved classic “Night on the Galactic Railroad”. Give them a wave back when you see them! If you’re coming from Morioka, JR Shin-Hanamaki Station is only 10 minutes by bullet train on the Tohoku Shinkansen from JR Morioka Station. Running along the JR Kamaishi Line in Iwate Prefecture, the SL Ginga was restored from the C58 239 SL train, in order to revitalise the disaster-stricken region after the 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. It’s hard to overstate Kenji Miyazawa’s significance and fame in Japanese culture. Meanwhile, cultural challenges start with simple but untranslatable differences like how college students in Japan take long vacations from January to March, not June to August like they do in the western world. Access: Free shuttle bus (20-minute ride) from JR Shin-Hanamaki Station for staying guests, or a 20-minute ride on a local bus from JR Hanamaki Station. Selland believes the field is in a good place comparatively. Strong’s translation is beautiful and not inaccurate, but does not capture this dimension of the text. “Some people feel that there isn’t enough women’s writing out there, but because of that concern this is actually the area that’s growing the most.”, Gabriel added that the recent winners of the most prestigious literary prizes in Japan — the Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes — were women, and that all the nominated novels were written by women. All rights reserved. Did you know? Strong’s translation is beautiful and not inaccurate, but does not capture this dimension of the text. JR EAST PASS is offered by the East Japan Railway Company for tourists visiting Eastern Japan. Due to the large amount of resources required to operate the train, the JR East SL Ginga only makes a one-way trip for each day of operation, which is mostly on weekends. Miyazawa was also a professional agronomist, amateur geologist, Buddhist scholar and rural activist. If you’re coming from Tokyo, JR Shin-Hanamaki Station is around 3 hours by bullet train on the Tohoku Shinkansen from JR Tokyo Station. Kenji Miyazawa, Japan’s great rural novelist. It was released on July 13, 1985, and features Mayumi Tanaka as Giovanni and Chika Sakamoto as Campanella. “How do you render the story not just as children’s literature?” he asked. “How do you render the story not just as children’s literature?” he asked. But when you focus on feeling alone, you ignore the texture of the text — the lively onomatopoeia, the stream-of-consciousness haze — the sonic energy that deeply affects the reading experience. Does translating “Night on the Milky Way Railroad” seem daunting yet? “For Kenji, the Fourth Dimension is a whole new axis — a way to jump to a higher plane,” he said. The view of the steam billowing from the train as it crosses the arched bridge is a magical sight to behold, and will take you back to the stories you read as a child. For Giovanni, the answer is as far away as the stars. content enquiries. Giovanni is the main protagonist of the anime film Night On The Galactic Railroad. The JR EAST PASS (Tohoku area) offers UNLIMITED RIDES on all JR East Rail Lines in the designated area, and is also valid for the Narita Express to/from Narita Airport, Tokyo Monorail to/from Haneda Airport and all JR East Shinkansen lines. In the 20th century, translations were often completed by academic scholars who lacked a sense for literary English. “There’s a mini-boom in Japanese literary translation,” he said. It is a delightful sponge cake filled with sweetened white bean paste, and coated with white chocolate, resembling the egg of a seagull, which is what its name literally translates to. I tried three times, getting one yellow, and two dark blue badges. Image credit: Carissa Loh (East Japan Railway Company) / East Japan Railway Company. Neither does Roger Pulver’s. In an instant, I felt like I was transported into space. is ripe with Buddhist imagery and echoes of Miyazawa’s rural hometown in Iwate Prefecture, yet it seems to take place in Christian Italy. Translated alternately as “Night on the Milky Way Railway. These ¥150 tickets allow them to enter the platform and get close to the SL Ginga, even if they are not going to ride the train. His novels are read by children in school, adapted into popular animated films and studied and re-studied by academics. Website (Singapore) Night on the Galactic Railroad (銀河鉄道の夜) is an anime film based on the novel by Kenji Miyazawa. Address: 26-19 Takamatsu, Hanamak-shi, Iwate 025-0014. I personally have not tried it yet, but if I can afford to buy a Nambu ironware pot someday, perhaps in the future I will give it a taste and let you know! To Harry Potter fans, it might even remind them of the Hogwarts’ Express. Bali Punishes Foreigners Not Wearing Face Masks with Push-Ups. Kamome no Tamago is perhaps Iwate’s most famous souvenir. Here you can get your fix of exclusive SL Ginga-themed items to bring home for your family and friends (or for yourself). Miyazawa’s fierce preoccupation with death is enough to defy the book’s common label as children’s literature. There are abundant roadblocks to. Address: 2-11 Chūō-dōro, Tōno, Iwate 028-0523. Great news! Miyazawa (1896-1933) wrote, rewrote, and wrote it again, and again; the version commonly used by scholars is at least the fourth version that he composed. For a while he watched as it pulsed on and off like a firefly. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1934 as part of Complete Works of Kenji Miyazawa Vol. “His sister died the year before [he started writing]. As you take in the atmosphere of the vintage-style booth seats covered in red velvet, complemented with metallic hardware and stained-glass style windows, you will be hit with a wave of nostalgia. “Ginga” is ripe with Buddhist imagery and echoes of Miyazawa’s rural hometown in Iwate Prefecture, yet it seems to take place in Christian Italy. Night on the Galactic Railroad is often described as slow, usually by Westerners used to rapid-fire Hollywood blockbusters. The title, variously called “Night on the Galactic Railway” or “Fantasy Railroad … “If something was weird, I wanted the reader to think, ‘that’s weird,’” Strong said. , Japanese entrance hall and veranda respectively, both unfamiliar to western audiences, seem like a walk in the park (or a walk to the temple). “It’s surprising because his work travels so much farther than his local region.”, Does translating “Night on the Milky Way Railroad” seem daunting yet? , sometimes translated as Milky Way Railroad , Night Train to the Stars , or Fantasy Railroad In The Stars , [ 2 ] is a classic Japanese novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. But before you go, here’s a budget hack: The pass is about ¥1,000 cheaper if you purchase it from travel agents. Secure advance seat reservations for free up to one month before departure so you won’t have to deal with peak tourist seasons once the holiday rush sets in. “How do you create a language that serves but isn’t written strictly for a younger audience?” You could translate “Ginga” a dozen more times and still not exhaust the challenges and possibilities. Access: From JR Shin-Hanamaki Station, take a 2-minute bus ride to Miyazawa Kenji Kinen-kan Bus Stop. Website (Singapore) For a while he watched as it pulsed on and off like a firefly. Being a huge fan of themed trains, I had always wanted to ride the SL Ginga, but never got to, as it does not run frequently. She said that she focused on the feeling behind the piece. Long agreed that there would be a place for a new translation, especially one that could reconcile the novel’s childish wonder with its four-dimensional complexity. “He’s thinking about Iwate Prefecture as part of a multi-layered, multi-dimensional universe.”. It’s been both more and less than 85 years since Kenji Miyazawa’s masterpiece, “Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru” (銀河鉄道の夜), was published posthumously in 1934. Strong tried to cut through the noise. How do you translate a work that crosses such vast expanses of space and time, much less a work like “Ginga”. It certainly was to Sarah Strong, Professor Emeritus in Japanese Language and Literature at Bates College, who wrote a heavily annotated translation published in 1991. Ginga’s protagonist, Giovanni, has a sick mother, an absentee father and is bullied in school. It tells the tale of two young boys named Giovanni and Campanella, who find themselves aboard a train travelling through the cosmos. Know more about the JR EAST PASS. His ecological and humanistic impulses can be seen in his most famous poem, “Ame ni mo makezu” (雨ニモマケズ or “Undefeated by the rain”), a poem known by many Japanese from an early age and transcendent in its selfless simplicity. What was sad? Meanwhile, cultural challenges start with simple but untranslatable differences like how college students in Japan take long vacations from January to March, not June to August like they do in the western world. This beloved classic of Japanese children’s literature is testimony to the difficulties of translation. In 2020, the SL Ginga celebrates its 6th anniversary. It’s major themes are death, happiness, and self-sacrifice. “His sister died the year before [he started writing]. You can also find items associated with Miyazawa’s beloved Tohoku region on display. How do you translate a work that crosses such vast expanses of space and time, much less a work like “Ginga” that doesn’t seem to have much of a time or place to begin with? Surrounded by abundant nature, Hanamaki Onsen is best known for its outdoor hot springs, beautiful rose garden, and the flowerbed sundial designed by Miyazawa Kenji. She said that she focused on the, behind the piece. When translating “Ginga,” her goal was to get the, It’s a wonderful approach to translation that faces practical complications. The most scenic and well-known photo-taking spot for the SL Ginga is a short 700m walk from JR Miyamori Station. If you are visiting the Tohoku region to ride the SL Ginga and explore the rest of Iwate Prefecture, check out the JR EAST PASS (Tohoku area), an affordable pass offering unlimited rail travel on JR East lines (including bullet trains) in the valid area for any 5 days of your choice within a 14-day period. Inside these capsules are pin badges with quotes from Miyazawa’s literary works. And the entire novel is underscored by his nuanced concept of a Fourth Dimension, the, “Ginga” has enthralled adults and children and puzzled scholars in Japan and abroad for 85 years — both a little more than that, and a little less. Watch Night on the Galactic Railroad Night on the Galactic Railroad (Dub) on Crunchyroll. 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