Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist, poet, and author of children's literature, born on August 27, 1896, in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, and he died on September 21, 1933. He is not a direct creator of manga or anime in the sense of drawing or directing them; rather, he is the original literary creator whose extensive body of fairy tales and fantasy stories have served as the source material for numerous anime adaptations. His career was primarily that of a writer, teacher, agricultural science scholar, and devout Buddhist social activist during the late Taisho and early Showa periods.

Although almost totally unknown as a writer in his lifetime, Miyazawa's work gained significant posthumous recognition. He self-published his first major poetry collection, Haru to Shura (Spring and Chaos), and a collection of fairy tales, Chumon no Oi Ryoriten (The Restaurant of Many Orders), in 1924. His most celebrated work is the novella Ginga Tetsudo no Yoru (Night on the Galactic Railroad), written in 1927 and published posthumously in 1934. Other significant original works that have been adapted into anime include Kaze no Matasaburo (Matasaburo the Wind Imp), Serohiki no Goshu (Gauche the Cellist), Yodaka no Hoshi (The Nighthawk Star), Gusuko Budori no Denki (The Life of Budori Gusuko), and Yukiwatari (Snow Crossing).

The history of adapting Miyazawa's stories into animation dates back to the post-war period, with his gentle, politically safe, and morally educational tales becoming staples of the Japanese school curriculum. The earliest animated adaptations include puppet animation versions of The Restaurant of Many Orders in 1958 and Gauche the Cellist in 1963. The most notable adaptations include Isao Takahata's independently produced film Gauche the Cellist in 1982, which was noted for its painstaking attention to musical detail and realistic animation. Gisaburo Sugii's 1985 film adaptation of Night on the Galactic Railroad is particularly famous for its decision to portray all the characters as anthropomorphic cats, a stylistic choice that has influenced subsequent adaptations of Miyazawa's work. Other significant anime adaptations include Shoji Kawamori's biographical fantasy Spring and Chaos in 1996, which depicts Miyazawa's own life as a teacher and farmer with the characters also depicted as cats, and the 2016 short film Matasaburo of the Wind, produced as part of the Anime Mirai young animator training project. The story Yukiwatari was adapted into a 1994 short film by Magic Bus studios.

Miyazawa's artistic identity is defined by a fusion of fantastical imagery, deep Buddhist philosophy, and a profound concern for the natural world and the suffering of others. His conversion to Nichiren Buddhism after reading the Lotus Sutra heavily influenced his writing, with themes of self-sacrifice, compassion, and the search for true happiness recurring throughout his stories. His work often reimagines his impoverished, famine-prone home prefecture of Iwate, which he called Ihatovo in a coded-Esperanto coinage, as a pastoral paradise. As a utopian social activist and vegetarian, he also dedicated his life to improving the agricultural techniques and cultural lives of local peasants, ideals that permeate his literary works.

The industry significance of Kenji Miyazawa is immense, as he is considered one of modern Japan's most beloved and influential fantasy writers. His posthumous fame and the expiration of his copyright led to a renaissance of adaptations in the 1980s and beyond. His influence extends far beyond direct adaptations; his work has profoundly inspired major figures in anime and manga, most notably Leiji Matsumoto, whose Galaxy Express 999 series is a direct tribute to Night on the Galactic Railroad. Hayao Miyazaki has also cited him as a major inspiration. The recurrent use of Miyazawa's original song Hoshimeguri no Uta and his thematic elements in numerous other anime, such as Mawaru Penguindrum and Giovanni's Island, demonstrate the enduring impact of his literary legacy on Japanese popular culture.