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Excavations in the upper reaches of the atmosphere |
In Introduction to Spring and Ashura, Kenji criticizes the limited historical understanding of an age,
So it is that documents and history...or the earth's past/As well as these various data/Are nothing but what we have become conscious of/(at the root of the karmic covenant of space-time)and then expresses his certainty that there is a separate spacetime that protrudes from the framework of knowledge generally agreed on by modern scientists, For all I know in two thousand years from now/.../Rising scholars will excavate superb fossils/From regions glittering of iced nitrogen/In the very upper reaches of the atmosphere |
| The framework of knowledge of the scholar on the Pliocene Coast | @ In Night on the Milky Way Train, the theme of the above passage from Introduction to Spring and Ashura is taken over in the chapter The Pliocene Coast which tells about a scholar excavating fossils in the Milky Way's dry river bed, the Pliocene Coast. He says,
"You see, we know this place is a magnificent thick stratum, and we've got all the proof we need that it was formed 1,200,000 years ago. But some others don't see it in that light, claiming that it might be just wind, water or empty sky."In other words, the scholar is saying that residents of the Milky Way and "some others," or residents of earth, might look at things differently. Night on the Milky Way Train is attempting to portray a framework of knowledge in a separate spacetime that completely diverges from the normal framework of knowledge commonly held by people on earth. |
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| A four dimension continuum and Kenji's singular state of consciousness | Well, what does this experience of a separate spacetime mean in relation to frameworks that confine people's understanding, as implied by the book that reveals the shifting frameworks of geological and historical knowledge in the third draft of Night on the Milky Way Train? Introduction to Spring and Ashura winds up with a final passage that reads like a philosophical treatise, The propositions that you have before you are without exception/Asserted within the confines of a four dimension continuum/As the nature of the mental state and time in themselvesIt is uncertain what Kenji means by the phrase "four dimension continuum," but certainly his arrival at this conclusion evinces an inquiring approach toward the pluralistic framework of understanding suggested in Introduction to Spring and Ashura; that is, he is searching for a kind of understanding that isn't limited by a particular framework, but as far as possible accommodates multiple frameworks. If this is true, then it would seem that the expression "four dimension continuum" indicates an all-inclusive experience of the kind of spacetime that could contain multiple frameworks of understanding. When in his singular mental state, Kenji experiences a sense of exposure to an elemental spacetime that accommodates multiple frameworks of understanding; without a doubt, he intimately connects the "four dimension continuum" with these experiences of a separate spacetime. |
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| A communitas-type spacetime and "four-dimensional art" | The concept of a four dimension continuum is taken over from Introduction to Spring and Ashura by Night on the Milky Way Train; in the chapter Giovanni's Ticket we find the expression "the imperfect Four-Dimensional-Milky-Way-Dream Train." In contrast to the earth, or "third spatial region," the trip on the Milky Way Train takes place in an "imperfect Four-Dimensional...Dream" space. While Night on the Milky Way Train is for Giovanni an experience in a spacetime separate from that on earth, it is also a communitas-type space where the structure of interpersonal relations becomes fluid. Among the passengers on the Milky Way Train traveling in an extreme separate spacetime far from earth, the barriers Giovanni felt on earth have been cleared away enabling meaningful encounters between people. In other words, Night on the Milky Way Train is the story of a spacetime where the various barriers that isolate people from one another on earth are broken down and more fluid relationships can arise. The profound experience of a separate spacetime greatly transforms Giovanni's self-awareness and outlook on life. "Four-dimensional" spacetime is a separate spacetime cast loose from the frameworks that normally restrict how people feel and think; such a separate spacetime opens up the possibility of free thinking feeling and thinking via multiple viewpoints that aren't shackled by a particular framework. Viewed in this light, we can make the same connection for the expression "four-dimensional art" mentioned in Prospectus for an Introduction to Agrarian Art. And the expression "four-dimensional sense adds fluidity to static art" also presents "four-dimensional art" as art experienced in a separate spacetime that turns a solid framework fluid. |
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Quotation is from KENJI MIYAZAWA POEMS, Night On The Milky Way Train, translated by Roger Pulvers, published by Chikuma Shobo.
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