Kenji Miyazawa’s A Night on the Galactic Railway
Giovanni is the kind of painfully shy child bullies focus on. He’s intelligent, despite doubting himself, and is devoted to his homebound 
mother. Since his father is away and his mother too ill to work, he must support the family—which he does happily—but this means he can’t play with the other children after school. This, of course, doesn’t help his social standing. His one friend is Campanella, who is friends with absolutely everyone. After a brief meeting at the Star Festival, the two find themselves inexplicably on a train to the stars.
They’re awed by their journey through strange lands where birds taste like candy, scorpions burn brightly, and scientists excavate fossils eternally. It’s Giovanni’s first real adventure and he’s delighted with Campanella’s full attention. At each stop they meet new travelers full of purpose. Giovanni—and readers—will slowly realize that there’s a reason the boys are on the train and why he has a special ticket different from everyone else’s.
While I have not yet read the original novel, I was fascinated and followed the story easily, indicating that it made the transition to graphic novel well. This classic story has been adapted several times, including to stage and screen, so it may be of particular interest to readers who enjoy learning about Japanese literature. I’ve even been enticed to check out the novel so I can experience the journey again in another format.
The art style uses fine lines and plenty of detail to bring each stop to life during the journey. At the same time, there are often aspects of the celestial lands that don’t quite feel real. The characters sometimes seem separate from the scenery and some elements almost look like stage props. The level of care and detail elsewhere—particularly on Earth—make this seem planned, as if the other lands truly aren’t quite real or, perhaps, not something Giovanni can fully understand.
Savvy readers will quickly pick up on the twist in the story as the illustrations provide many clues, but it’s also easy to just follow Giovanni’s journey and tensely wait for his intelligence to catch up with the unexpected joy. That intense happiness is readily apparently since Kitahara’s art has a strong focus on the characters’ emotions from blatant to subtle. They’ll display a nearly comical level of exuberance on one page and be sharing a million thoughts with a tiny smile on the next.
As a small critique, the font used for the English translations doesn’t fit all the speech bubbles well, presumably because of the way the Japanese and English writing is oriented differently.
This is a coming of age tale best appreciated by younger teens as the galactic journey is also Giovanni’s road to maturity. While he’s needed to work hard and be responsible, that’s isolated him from his community and many experiences that could shape his older self. On the Galactic Railway he’ll confront the true meaning of friendship, religion, compassion, and loss while having an adventure that may jar him out of his timid life.
This lovely, quiet graphic novel is definitely recommended for library collections.
Kenji Miyazawa’s A Night on the Galactic Railway
By Ayano Kitahara
Tuttle, 2025
ISBN: 9784805318713
Company Age Rating: Teen
Related media: Book to Comic
NFNT Age Recommendation: Teen (13-16)
Up front I must admit that I have been a long-time fan of Lafcadio Hearn’s writing on Japanese folklore especially Kwaidan(1904), the final short story collection published during his life time. Through his writing, based on research, oral tales from neighbors, and tales read to him by his wife, he became the first non-Japanese author to retell the folklore for readers of the English language.
