Photo/Illutration Science teacher Hiroshi Shikaura talks to participants in an event in which he demonstrates lab experiments of scientific phenomena described in Kenji Miyazawa's works in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, in December 2017. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

"Haru to Shura" (Spring and Demon), "Kaze no Matasaburo" (Matasaburo of the Wind) and "Gusko Budori no Denki" (The Life of Budori Gusko) are just three of Kenji Miyazawa's (1896-1933) works, which I am forever in love with.

But when I started reading his novels in my childhood, one thing that dismayed me was his use of unfamiliar scientific terms.

In "The Night on the Galactic Railroad," for instance, Miyazawa describes "sasori no hi" (literally, scorpion's fire) seen from the train window: "More beautiful than lithium, the fire continues to burn, as if in a state of intoxication."

I didn't know the color of lithium then, nor could I tell if such a thing as "crystal filled with inner light" existed in reality.

Even when I reread the book as an adult, this passage still stumped me.

"Kenji was also an outstanding science teacher," noted Hiroshi Shikaura, 67, who teaches university and high school science classes in Ishikawa Prefecture. "The wealth of his knowledge, especially of elements, minerals and celestial objects, is quite extraordinary."

Shikaura has also continued to serve as a visiting lecturer who recreates, through on-site lab experiments, various scientific phenomena described by Miyazawa in his poems and stories for children.

What Shikaura gives are "chemistry shows" during which he narrates the pertinent passages from Miyazawa's works while demonstrating the actual phenomena.

If the audience asks for a "scorpion's fire," he would burn pulverized lithium chloride on a portable stove and produce scarlet flames, at which faces in the audience would immediately light up, he said.

During my interview, he let me do an experiment. I rubbed two crystal sticks together, and presto, sparks of golden light flashed before my eyes.

So, this must have been the flash the boy Campanella saw in the galaxy in "The Night on the Galactic Railroad." 

My years of frustration disappeared in a flash.

"I do not consider myself an accomplished poet, but I would like to be acknowledged at least as a scientist," Miyazawa wrote in a letter.

I felt I could finally understand just a small part of the mentality of this poet who freely moved between science and art.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 10

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Related News