A review by afi_whatafireads
Night Train to the Stars by Kenji Miyazawa

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

There's something eccentric and yet captivating of Miyazawa's writing and this collection of short stories is definitely one that I will remember for a very long time.


"Who can say what happiness is?
However hard to bear things may be, if they happen on the upgrade or the downgrade, is one step on the way to true happiness.


A classic and an inspiration from the creators of Studio Ghibli, Night Train to The Stars holds a collection of 25 short stories of talking animals, forests that whispers your secrets and well, humans that are often odd than most. Stories that seemed ordinary on the surface but has a deeper meaning once you get to look through the lenses of the author.

Personal Thoughts

Although there were some hits and miss's for the stories in the book, I mostly loved it and I definitely liked the slow and almost-melancholic vibe that I had whilst reading this. Go in the mindset of this book reading it as a children's book as it is a collection of classic fairytales and folklores for children in Japan. The foreword written by Kaori Nagai had instilled so much depth and showed that certain stories had a deeper message than the Miyazawa perceived the story during the first time reading it.

What I can sense most whilst reading the book was the Appreciation Towards the Environment . Miyazawa has a background of greeneries and delved in the farming industry and his love for it shone within the collection. Reading this made you somewhat transported to the world that he written, albeit its a scenery in Japan but a more, whimsical one at most. His stories carry voices of people that has been looked down all their life, of forests and animals that had been hurt by humans and of the heart and soul of the ones that are left behind.

I honestly adored the metaphors that Miyazawa brought and his stories are intended to put moral values in the real world, but he used animals instead. Almost all of his stories have talking animals and woods that can communicate with people and in one way, it served a good medium as these stories are mostly written for children.

Some of the memorable stories for me are Restaurants of Many Orders, Kenju's Woods and of course, the Night Train To The Stars. Its definitely a collection that I would like for everyone to read at least once in their life. Enchanting, a bit odd at some, but definitely will let you sail through the stories in the world that Miyazawa had set.

4.25🌟 for this collection! . Biggest thank you to @definitelybooks for this copy!