Why did you begin reading Kenji Miyazawa's stories again after many years?
	My entrance to Kenji's world was "The Song of Stars." Six years ago when I became interested in astrology, I bought a Macintosh computer. I wanted to use music software, so I inputted the music score which was printed at the end of my paperback copy of "The Song of Stars." When I listened to the sound it was a simple but mysteriously fascinating melody. I sang the part of the song which begins "the eyeballs of a red scorpion." The beautiful music penetrated deep into my heart, and I felt like all the brightest stars were spinning in the sky. After that I started to read many of Kenji's stories in paperback and felt that they were really great. As I read his stories again and again, I could interpret them many different ways. His stories are like Japanese dried squid "surume." Each bite becomes more and more delicious! Also, his use of language is fascinating. For example, instead of using katakana, the angular Japanese phonetic syllabary, for "diamond" and "opal," he uses kanji, the Chinese characters.
	Is your curiosity about Kenji related to your interest in astrology?
	I started to use the Macintosh, study astrology, and read Kenji's stories frequently during the same period. Each seemed to be connected to the others somehow. I was also interested in the power of jewelry and in herbs. In the world of Kenji stars, stones, plants, and animals are all communicating with each other.
	After you became interested in "The Song of Stars" how did your feeling about Kenji change?
	In my case, after I started to be curious about Kenji I went to see Manabu Murase's "What is 'Night on the Milky Way Train." In the story, Giovanni had to part from Campanella in order to grow up to be a man. I was impressed with the way Manabu Murase adapted this story, and so I read "Night on the Milky Way Train" again.
	What do you think about "Night on the Milky Way Train"?
	To tell you the truth, I still don't know. I feel something touching my heart deeply, but I cannot easily express my feelings in words. Play "Song for a Stellar Journey"

• Belongs to Hermes Institute, a research institute for astrology and mysticism
  
• Is an astrologist
• Studies under Mr. Akira Ryuchi, a life member of the Astrological Association of Great Britain
  
• Researches the healing power of jewelry and colors
  
• Studies symbols at IDEX
  
• Also works with accessories planning
  
• Is a Tokyo resident, Capricorn, blood type AB with the guardian stone = Alexandrite
  
• Has a link to the homepage for Midori Tokino's Web Astrology
  

Kenji for you

The World of Kenji Miyazawa