The Village Beyond the Mist
#6223.86 adjusted 3.88 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1975 Reading commitment Low Sachiko Kashiwaba Last reviewed 2026-10-25
Overview
Sachiko Kashiwaba's debut novel, first published in Japan in 1975, is a children's fantasy about a girl who follows a secret path through a forest into Misty Valley, a hidden village of centaurs, gnomes and shops full of spellbooks. Its publisher describes it as the book that first inspired Hayao Miyazaki's film Spirited Away. Avery Fischer Udagawa's English translation, illustrated by Miho Satake, appeared from Yonder in 2025, received a starred review from Kirkus, and was a finalist for the 2026 Mythopoeic Award for Children's Literature.
Portal fantasy, Cozy fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Village Beyond the Mist Sachiko Kashiwaba
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Village Beyond the Mist; ISBN is the 2025 English translation (Yonder); the 1975 Japanese first edition predates ISBNs in Japan. | 1975 | 1 | core | 3.86 (4,559 ratings) |
Sachiko Kashiwaba's standalone debut, translated from Japanese.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Village Beyond the Mist? The Village Beyond the Mist's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Village Beyond the Mist finished? Complete (1975).
- How much reading does The Village Beyond the Mist take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is The Village Beyond the Mist ranked? #622 in this site's official ranking, based on 4,559 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #622?
Ranked #622 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.86 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (4,559 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.02 behind #621, The Great Cities Duology.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 5k ratings · Ranks #622 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment portal fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Mythopoeic Award (Children's Literature), 2026: finalist: The Village Beyond the Mist
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.86 across 4,559 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: Adrian Selby's world (Snakewood), Where the Dark Stands Still (Poranek), The Village Beyond the Mist (Kashiwaba) accepted 2026-10-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Changing Hands Bookstore: The Village Beyond the Mist (publisher description) Tier 2
- Asian Review of Books: The Village Beyond the Mist (1975 debut, 2025 translation) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25
Rule: Core Canon = The Village Beyond the Mist (1975), a standalone novel.