Night on the Milky Way Railway (1934) by Kenji Miyazawa #JapaneseLitChallenge19

🚅 Giovanni (a strange name for a Japanese boy, by the way) is a poor boy who is usually so tired after his part time job, that he doesn't do good at school. This makes him seems to be a dreamy and weak, that even his friends leave him out when they are playing or having fun. They also ridicule Giovanny because he had said once that his father would come home soon and buy him otter-skin coat. It isn't clear what or where his father is - whether on fishing trip (a prolonged one), or else in prison. I suspect the latter. That is how Giovanni is feeling towards the upcoming Star Festival, or Milky Way festival. Feeling left alone, that even his closest friend Campanella is having fun in the festival (and looks at him with pity), Giovanni suddenly finds himself on board a steam train, after he goes on top of nearby hill and gazes above at the Milky Way.

🚅 But the train isn't a usual one; it's a dream train on a dream track. The train passes some stations, named after the constellations. It embarks from Northern Cross, and on the track are Swan station, then Scorpio, and some other names I forgot. Campanella is on board the same train, which pleases Giovanni, and also some others strange men. One of them is a bird catcher, who catch bird so easily, just by lifting his hands above, and then eats them as it is, which strangely tastes like chocolate cakes.

🚅 Along the journey, we were entertained with more and more strange and magical occurrences, that in the end it doesn't feel very special anymore. It feels more like a long and incoherent dream that we remember nothing after waking up. I could see why it has become a children classic, but for me personally, this is just a confusing story. The galactical theme is a pretty attractive tool for educating children about our galaxy. And the end might be good to preparing children of the frailty of human's life, but I feel it's too dark for children.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

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Japanese Literature Challenge 19

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