Kenji Miyazawa is undoubtedly one of Japan's most highly regarded writers of fantasy fiction. Book 1 of Tales From A Japanese Dreamland is an introduction to Kenji's writing through his well-known poem Ame-ni-mo makezu and the story of Kenju, which can be thought of as an extension of that poem.
Note that both these stories can be found in Book 4 & 5 of the series Tales from a Japanese Dreamland.
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