I’ve loved the number nine, 9, since I was a child.

Ten is one short. Not perfect. Not complete. Just a step away.

Yet, the number nine somehow suggests an effort was made.

It’s not eight, the symbol of prosperity, of course,

nor seven, the lucky number.

And it’s not associated with bad luck, nor is it about making empty promises,

nor lurking in the shadows, nor part of the world of the three dango brothers or twins.

I have no interest in being number one.

That’s why I like number nine.

As I gaze at the number nine,

it fills me with such affection that tears well up before I know it.

My strong feelings for number nine lead to a desire to never forget it.

Perhaps the root of that poignancy is separation.

The fate, the destiny, the karma of having to part when the time comes.

The absurdity of life, where things that were once a single entity are torn apart by unseen forces.

The desire for the eternity of blood ties, of family, may also be a nostalgia for inevitable separation.

A melancholic number that can never return to its original state, something incomplete, its very symbol,

is the A number 9 that I endlessly adore.



Now,

“The self as the furthest stranger”

This phrase also reminds me of Santana’s melancholy.

“What clever words!” “What beautiful guitar playing!” “What stunning artwork!”

It’s all the same thing.

The genius advertising creator who brought Snakeman Show to fame,

and Dentsu Inc. advisor, Kotaro Sugiyama’s “Creative Mind.”

This might be the gospel for creators. Columnist, Yukichi Amano.

One passage from that gospel

is “The self as the furthest stranger.”

It is.

In other words, how should one control their self-awareness in life?

This phrase encapsulates that proposition in a single stroke.

How clever.

For the world, for others,

This beautiful art book gently conveys and unravels the truth that this long-forgotten idea is, in fact, the proof of our human existence.

is Kotaro Sugiyama’s “Creative Mind.”

Knowing Mr. Sugiyama might be my only boast.

← Diary-T 149–154