Night on the Galactic Railroad

A children's story by Miyazawa Kenji. Unpublished during his lifetime. The first draft was completed around 1924 (Taisho 13), but afterwards, it underwent four major revisions until the end of his life, and was left behind in the form of a complex draft with many unorganized sections. On the night of the Star Festival, a poor boy named Giovanni lies down on Weatherwheel Hill and enters a dream world, where he travels with his best friend Campanella on a mysterious Galaxy Express 999. At the end, he wakes up crying, having lost sight of his friend, and goes down the hill to find out that Campanella drowned while trying to save a classmate in the river. This dream railway is also a vision of the afterlife, and this masterpiece of fantasy literature sublimates the author's original experiences, such as the death of his sister and separation from a friend, backed by a four-dimensional view of the universe and religious fervor.

[Taijiro Amasawa]

"Night on the Galactic Railroad" (Iwanami Bunko, Obunsha Bunko, Kadokawa Bunko, Kodansha Bunko, Shincho Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

宮沢賢治の童話。生前未発表。1924年（大正13）ごろ初稿が成立したが、その後、晩年に至るまで4次にわたる大幅な改稿がなされたすえ、ついに未整理の箇所を多く含む複雑な草稿の形で遺(のこ)された。貧しい少年ジョバンニが星祭りの夜、天気輪(てんきりん)の丘に横たわって夢の世界に入り、親友カムパネルラと不思議な銀河鉄道の旅をともにするが、最後に友の姿を見失って泣きながら目を覚まし、丘を下って、カムパネルラが川で級友を救おうとして溺死(できし)したことを知る。この夢の鉄道は同時に死後の世界の幻視であり、作者の妹の死、友との決別などの原体験が四次元的宇宙観や宗教的熱情に裏づけられて昇華した幻想文学の傑作。

［天沢退二郎］

『『銀河鉄道の夜』（岩波文庫・旺文社文庫・角川文庫・講談社文庫・新潮文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例