Every morning, I hear news
that goes beyond my imagination.
What is happening seems to be taking place
in far, far away lands,
yet it feels uncannily close.
In fact, reality itself
feels like science fiction.
Before I can digest what is happening,
the world shifts at a dizzying pace,
leaving me confused
about what should take priority.
While I am here,
I hope to do something to help,
to feel better about myself.
Yet, life goes on.
A strange sense of time,
where a week feels like a day.
I guess I am at a stage of life
where one can feel lost in time.
In the end, perhaps what matters most
is the physical presence
of the person closest to us.
The story is inspired by my personal life.
I got engaged before the residency,
and got married midway through
the research and production period.
We began a life
in a small house in Tokyo.
Alongside the reality of a middle-aged couple,
a near-future story is woven,
with Tottori as its stage—
a place where, since ancient times,
all manner of things have drifted ashore.
In the story,
a large-scale, compound catastrophe strikes Japan,
forcing people to seek refuge beyond its borders.
