Journey to Ichang

Journey to Ichang is a Tangwan 1886 novel about a Kaizhungese child who is forced to migrate to Tangwa. The novel was famous for a number of adaptations, and depending on the adaptation, the story takes a furn for the better, and often for the worse.

Its historical background lies in the expulsion of 20,000 Tangwans from Kaizhung, then under dynastic rule. Jangkreng, known as Jiangren by the Kaizhungese, is aware that their parents are on a journey to return to Tangwa in order to seek for a better life. He and his family, as well as hundreds of others, were seen as "cultural slaves" and they thought that their culture was unfitting.

The first adaptation came in 1948, as a film. However the most notable adaptation is an ishinime commissioned by the IHK and broadcast throughout the year of 1976, ninety years after it was first published. Although the animation is still remembered by many, even in Ishigaki it wasn't well-received, and was considered to be a staple of "rural television" (commercial television wasn't widely available in rural areas as transmitter power was low). In some countries, the series was simply known as Jangkreng. 35 years later, ITV broadcast a retelling called Journey to Hamanashi, set in 2011 and was a reflex of the Ishigakian crisis of the time, where many were forced to migrate to Lenapore. This adaptation was a miniseries of two feature-length episodes.