When composing, I imagined the following scenes.
I would appreciate it if you could use them as a reference for your performance and interpretation.
1. A man is staring into the distance, unknown location. He focuses only on what he is looking at. His eyes are sharp, but he looks somewhat gentle, probably because of the wrinkles. A tree in front of him looks large or small, he cannot gauge the distance. The tree has experienced many seasons. It seems it was there from the beginning, rather than recently natural. There is nothing around it. There may be other trees and buildings, but it seems that only one tree exists in his world. He seemed to be "looking at the tree," but his eyes stopped there. He should have seen the dead leaves fluttering down from the tree, but he didn't see the drifting leaves falling with eyelids reacting slightly. Suddenly he tries to say something, but his eyelids shut before the words come out.
2. Washing his face and getting on to work as usual. Only strong will and vitality are his advantages. People often say, "Because you're young" and "You'll know it later", but he knows doing right is correct. How do I know now what I will know later? What I did with these beliefs is eventually recognized, and I was assigned to bigger projects. Though I have been in conflict with others and made many mistakes, I can see my development. I don't think I really changed anything, but am I growing up little by little?
3. Looking back, my life is busy but fulfilling. By the way, I realized that I haven't been laughing naturally these days, although I put on a fake smile and I smiled again. If asked, "If there were only two factors in the world, plus and minus, is my total lifetime plus or minus?", and how do I answer that? He knew it was a ridiculous question, but I was pondering within myself and staring at the empty air with my eyes off his desk.
4. A man is staring into the distance. A tree stands in front of him. Withered leaves flutter from the tree. He probably already understands everything. He managed to squeeze out, "That's Life."
(Ryoji Ihara)
