Milky Way Railroad (Rock Spring Collection of Japanese Literature)

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story, Questionable translation
Review: A surreal dream journey combining religious and scientific imagery; this version includes some good B&W illustrations. However, for various reasons I am seeking out an alternate translation after buying this book. My first encounter with NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILROAD (GINGA (Galaxy) TETSUDO (Railroad) NO YORU (Night)... the "Night" somehow dropped out of the title in this version) was with the gorgeous animated film, towards which my expectations are admittedly biased. Also, I don't read Japanese, so my comments on the translation must be taken with a grain of salt. However, one error stands out -- changing the character's Italian names to arbitrary Japanese equivalents. Did the translators really expect readers to be somehow confused by the fact that a Japanese author was writing about Italian characters, however universal or archetypal such characters are supposed to be? It's not a gripe that would destroy the story for a first-time reader, but for me, it leaves a negative impression.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story, Questionable translation
Review: I have been a Kenji Miyazawa fan for a long time, and upon finding a (fairly cheap) version of Night on the Galactic Railroad, I was ecstatic. Upon recieving it, to my horror, they had changed ALL of the names and severely rewrote major sections. The original names are Italian, and they are changed to lame Japanese names to "avoid confusion". Pure arrogance on the part of the translator. The only thing that saves this title is the original material, which still manages to shine through. Buy the other version, or watch the animated version put out by Central Park Media.

Rating:
Summary: Superb translation/Inspiring and entertaining for kids.
Review: This extremely well-written translation doesn't even sound like a translation most of the time. It is the best of the four available translations of the number-one Japanese children's classic of this century which has sold millions of copies in Japan. It is an inspiring tale of two young boys on a trip through the cosmos as one of them learns to deal with social ostracism (ijime), a missing father, the death of his best friend -- and finally with the meaning of life.

Rating:
Summary: BEYOND OUTER SPACE TO INNER SPACE
Review: This is the best of several available English translations of Japan's bestloved children's sci fi fantasy story. Although it takes the controversial step of simplifying the title and changing the characters' names to Japanese instead of the original Italian, it removes one layer of mystification from the story and simplifies our perceptions of a multifaceted work that appeals as easily to adults as to children. This tale of the friendship between a poor boy and a rich boy in a small country town in northern Japan and their journey to the heavens, from which only one returns, shows a small boy contending with social rejection, death and his place in the universe. Told in simple but sparkling prose, it is accompanied by illustrations by the eminent Japanese illustrator Ryu Okazaki, some of which are in the same order as works by such masters as Leonard Baskin and Rockwell Kent. The translators, Joseph Sigrist and D.M. Stroud, are both Americans who lived for many years in Japan and who are intimately acquainted with the geographic and literary milieu of the author.

Rating:
Summary: BEYOND OUTER SPACE TO INNER SPACE
Review: This is the best of several available English translations of Japan's bestloved children's sci fi fantasy story. Although it takes the controversial step of simplifying the title and changing the characters' names to Japanese instead of the original Italian, it removes one layer of mystification from the story and simplifies our perceptions of a multifaceted work that appeals as easily to adults as to children. This tale of the friendship between a poor boy and a rich boy in a small country town in northern Japan and their journey to the heavens, from which only one returns, shows a small boy contending with social rejection, death and his place in the universe. Told in simple but sparkling prose, it is accompanied by illustrations by the eminent Japanese illustrator Ryu Okazaki, some of which are in the same order as works by such masters as Leonard Baskin and Rockwell Kent. The translators, Joseph Sigrist and D.M. Stroud, are both Americans who lived for many years in Japan and who are intimately acquainted with the geographic and literary milieu of the author.