Night on the Galactic Railroad is a famous novel written by Kenji Miyazawa. Due to the death of the writer, it was left as an unfinished manuscript (the first draft was written in 1924), and it took a while to finally publish it in 1934. Miyazawa describes his fantastical world very beautifully and talks about the meaning of our lives. I have read the novel and seen an anime version made in 1985, and they are both excellent. A manga version, TV shows, a musical, a play, etc. have also been made from this story.
