[New iPhone App! - ANIME] The Celestial Railroad

[New iPhone App! - ANIME] The Celestial Railroad

TOKYO — January 6th, 2010 — Up-frontier, Inc. today announced The Celestial Railroad, a stunning new visual interpretation of a classic 20th-century tale from Japan. This 4K high-definition digital animation for the iPhone and iPod touch is available immediately from the Apple App Store.

Kenji Miyazawa’s moving story about two friends on a beautiful yet unsettling journey through the Milky Way is presented by KAGAYA. This globally renowned digital artist is known for paintings of constellations and celestial fantasies as well as lyrical other-worldly scenes and striking compositional techniques. All of these strengths contribute to a captivating retelling of The Celestial Railroad in outline, an experience that is further enhanced by beautiful music from KAGAYA’s younger brother, Rei Kagaya.

Many people around the world have already enjoyed KAGAYA’s The Celestial Railroad as a planetarium presentation. Now for the first time that same captivating tale is available for the iPhone and iPod touch.

View the video on a train, and you’ll find the fantasy and reality in the story interacting with the world outside your window. Better still, view it on a summer train trip to northeast Japan, the home and creative wellspring of the late Kenji Miyazawa, an icon of 20th century Japanese literature. For children and adults alike The Celestial Railroad has the power to weave a magic typical of the best fantasy fiction, and to prompt reflection on deeper truths. As the story unfolds you may even catch an occasional shadowy glimpse of your own face in the iPod/iPod touch screen….

See more on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYnclORvMys

“The Celestial Railroad” is available as a download from Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch at:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=334649975&mt=8

“KAGAYA”
A Japanese digital fine artist. Born in 1968, he has created artworks related to the universe including CG animation pictures, digital prints, posters, and illustrations for astronomical books and magazines. The main themes of his work are the universe, the blue planet, and humankind as a part of the universe — their dreams and yearnings. His artistry and scientific accuracy enable him to embody the beauty that integrates all the elements of the universe. His constellation pictures are made into jigsaw puzzles, which are gaining popularity around the world.
http://www.kagayastudio.com/english/index.html
http://www.gingatetudounoyoru.com/english/

Original Story by KENJI MIYAZAWA
Miyazawa was a Japanese writer and science teacher. Born in rural Japan in 1896, he wrote poems and children’s books while teaching at an agricultural school. He also taught agricultural technology to farmers. He died when he was thirty seven, leaving numerous unpublished works including an unfinished manuscript of “The Celestial Railroad” which was found at his bedside. He had been rewriting the manuscript over and over again for ten years.

About Up-frontier
Up-frontier, Inc. provides widget-based marketing solutions. We have an extensive track record of developing and deploying advanced applications using desktop widgets, web widgets, mobile widgets, and more. Currently, we promote the utilization of widgets via the “widgetown” information portal site and provide log analysis APIs for widget developers. Up-frontier also develops services utilizing widget platforms, such as TODAY’S AD, which provides multi-platform widgets, including mobile widgets, and distributes widget-targeted advertisements.

Press Contact:
Miki Sato
press.upfrontier@gmail.com
http://www.up-frontier.jp/

Art and Entertainment | January 6th, 2010