Sunday, August 02, 2009

Boy spirits

I chatted with my best friend Takashi Ikegami in the Omotesando area in Tokyo. The dialogue was held for the philosophy and poetry magazine "Eureka" published by Seidosha.

For an hour and half, we discussed how as children we both were fascinated by the insects. The endless hours we spend searching for rare species in the field, the touch of beetles at our fingertips on the dimly lit forest floor.

Sitting face to face with Takashi, I had this strange feeling that we were still elementary school boys, meeting in the classroom after the summer vacation, exchanging and sharing the experiences of each during the long holidays.

In life, the boy spirits keep carrying us through the stages, the ascents and descents. Sprinkles and sparkles of the boy spirit surrounded two lonely souls on a summer morning in Tokyo.



Takashi Ikegami in his room at the University

3 comments:

Utako said...

When I saw the picture of Mr.Ikegami smiling in an aloha shirt, I felt something good old, and remembered grown-ups in my home village.

The village had no particular industrial products, people were always busy to work in the fields, woods, and in the inshore sea. The elementary school has already closed. In my childhood, there were about one hundred pupils in it.

There were only two summer holidays for grown-ups during the Bon festival. They were not allowed to work and kill creatures on the days, so they played and played in the sea. Children would cook and feed domestic animals instead of them.

I can't forget their smiles in those days. Their boy spirits and girl spirits animated all over the village.

admin said...

What happened to Dr. Ikegami's aloha shirt?

Anonymous said...

It was very interesting for me to read that article. Thank author for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. I definitely want to read more soon.