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かしわばやしの夜

by Kenji Miyazawa

At dusk a farmer is drawn into an oak wood’s moonlit singing contest.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,590 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.

清作はSeisaku (topic)さあlook / come now日暮れだぞit's dusk!日暮れだぞit's dusk!と云いながらsaying (while)稗の根もとにat the base of the barn millet rootsせっせとbusily / diligently土をsoil (object)かけていましたwas putting on
Seisaku was saying, "Look, it's dusk, it's dusk," as he quickly put soil around the roots of the barn millet.
そのthatときtimeはas for (topic particle)もうalready銅づくりのcopper-madeお日さまthe sun (honorific)が(subject particle)南southのof (possessive particle)山裾mountain footのof (possessive particle)群青いろをしたwas deep ultramarine-coloredとこplaceにat (location particle)落ちてhad fallen野はらopen fieldはas for (topic particle)へんにstrangelyさびしくlonelyなりbecame白樺birchのof (possessive particle)幹trunkなどもand things like that alsoなにかsomething粉powderを(object particle)噴いてspraying/dustingいるbe (progressive)ようでas ifしたwas (polite past)
By then, the copper sun had fallen behind the southern mountain foot where the color was deep blue, the field had become strangely lonely, and the birch trunks seemed to be dusting something.
いきなりsuddenly向うの柏ばやしthe oak grove over thereの方からfrom the direction ofまるでcompletely調子はずれのoff-key途方もないabsurd / outrageous変なstrange声でin a voice
Suddenly, from the direction of the oak grove over there, in a completely off-key and very strange voice,
欝金しゃっぽのof the turmeric hat (ukon shappo)カンカラカンkan-kara-kan (a rhythmic sound)のofカアンkaan (a ringing sound)
"Kan-kara-kan of the turmeric hat, kaan."

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About the book

At dusk, Seisaku, working in the fields, hears a strange voice from the oak grove and meets a painter who says he is a guest of the Oak King and leads him into the woods. The story unfolds in the twilight fields and grove, told in a plain tone with a dreamlike, odd charm.

Cultural notes (selection)

Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.

稗の根もとに Customs

稗 (hie) is a grain grown on poor soil in the Japanese mountains. Cold-hardy, it was planted on land where rice and wheat would not grow well, and was a staple food for poor farmers in the Tōhoku region. That Seisaku is still hilling soil around the roots of the millet in the evening highlights the hard life of poor farm households in mountain villages.

前科九十八犯 Style

Treating Seisaku as a criminal with ninety-eight prior convictions is a personification that borrows legal terminology and applies it from the trees' point of view. The "crimes" Seisaku has committed are in fact the felling of ninety-eight trees, and the Great Cedar keeps account and passes judgment on him according to human notions of justice.

山主 Customs

Refers to the owner of a forest or a person who contracts for its logging. In rural Tōhoku, most mountain forests were privately owned, and to cut trees one first had to purchase logging rights from the mountain owner, often smoothing the way with gifts of sake—hence the line "酒を買ってある".

About the author

Kenji Miyazawa (27 August 1896 – 21 September 1933) was a Japanese novelist, poet, and children's literature writer from Hanamaki, Iwate, who also worked as an agricultural science teacher. His major works include Night on the Galactic Railroad, Kaze no Matasaburō, Gauche the Cellist, and The Night of Taneyamagahara, and his work gained its reputation mostly after his death.

How the glosses are made

Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.

FAQ

Is this the original text?

Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.

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What level is it?

This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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