I won't be beaten by the rain
I won't be beaten by the wind
I won't be beaten by the snow, nor the summer heat
because I'll be strong and healthy
without greed
never angry
always laughing to myself
I'll have four servings of brown rice
with miso-soup and a few veggies each day
I'll listen and observe carefully
and take in everything
never thinking of myself
and I won't forget
I'll live in a small thatched-roof hut
in a field beneath the shadows of a pine forest
if there’s a sick child to the east
I'll go and look after them
if there’s a tired old woman to the west
I'll go and carry her bundles of rice
if someone lies on their deathbed to the south
I'll go and tell them they have nothing to fear
if there’s an argument or dispute to the north
I'll tell them to stop being foolish
I'll shed tears when there is drought
I'll wander restlessly when the summer is cold
people will call me a blockhead
I won’t receive any praise
and I won’t worry
that's the kind of person
I want
to be
About the Authors
Nankichi Niimi was born Shohachi Watanabe in what is now Handa City, Aichi Prefecture, on July 30, 1913, with the year 2013 marking 100 years since his birth. Gon the Fox is studied by every Japanese child in elementary school and it was recently estimated that over 60 million people have read this story, which he wrote at just 18 years of age. Although Niimi went on to write a large number of poems and short stories, such as Buying Mittens, Grandpa's Lamp and When the Thieves Came to Hananoki Village before his death from tuberculosis at age 29, Gon the Fox is undoubtedly the most famous and well-loved of all his works, and perhaps the most famous Japanese children's story of all time.
Kenji Miyazawa is one of Japan’s best known and well-loved writers and poets. He was born in what is now Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, in 1896. Although the eldest son of a wealthy pawnbroker and landowner, Kenji was a deeply spiritual person who led a frugal life, and when he wasn’t writing, volunteered a great deal of his time teaching farmers how to improve their crop yields, or organizing concerts for classical music in his local village. He was a prolific writer who completed hundreds of works, but only a small collection of those were published while he was still alive, his reputation as one of Japan’s greatest storytellers only coming after his death in 1933, aged 37.
About Little J Books
Hi, my name is Paul and I started Little J Books because I personally wanted to be able to read more of these kinds of Japanese stories in English, especially in ebook form. By putting these stories into an ebook format they will be available for anyone to access anywhere in the world, forever. That last word is key, because quite often translators do an incredible job of translating a book into English, but after it gets published and sells out, it's gone. But now with ebooks and publishing on demand (POD) that is changing. So thank you so much for choosing to read this book, and if you would like to get involved somehow please send me an email at mailto:
[email protected]