NYRB | Once And Forever by Kenji Miyazawa

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Tales of farmers, foxes, and dreamers rendered in cosmic simplicity. 

Miyazawa is Japan’s answer to Saint-Exupéry, who wrote the beloved French children's story Le Petit Prince. He writes children’s stories for grown-ups: ecological, moral, and quietly transcendent.

A modern fableist, deeply embedded in Japanese endemic folklore tradition, Miyazawa writes stories of caution and comedy, many of which were later adapted into anime features, most notably Night on the Galactic Railroad. Almost totally unknown in his lifetime, he was discovered posthumously and enjoyed a boom in popularity in the mid-1990s, coinciding with the centenary of his birth.

In addition to being a writer, Miyazawa was deeply ascetic and ethical man, and decided to turn his back on his wealthy family in order to advocate for and improve the lot of Japanese farmers in Iwate Prefecture by founding the Rasu Farmers Association.

He was also known as teacher, vegetarian, a devout Nicherin Buddhist, and utopian social activist, who believed in the promise of one world language, known as Esperanto.