Commentary: In everyday life, I’m always thinking about how much I can refine my environment when facing creation. one nova, sometimes called a “second skin,” is something that reduces stress and creates a sense of space within. From there, I feel as though fleeting moments quietly emerge. I believe that within those moments lies the beauty that dwells in simplicity. In this film, I sought to express that quiet, understated presence.

A music video focusing on “Soap,” one of the original characters from Yokomizo Yuri’s “Nandemo Ikimono” series. Filmed in a real public bath, it combines stop-motion and animation. Centered on the feeling that “bathing is fun!”, the video creates a playful space surrounded by steam and the sound of water. By giving each soap slightly different movements, it produces the charm and rhythm unique to a large crowd, while also weaving in the fragility of how soap gets smaller with use and eventually disappears, resulting in a video that leaves a gentle afterglow.

Film direction for BRUTUS Furniture craftsman Yuuichi Hamada works out of a workshop in Maibara, Shiga Prefecture. He recreates world-renowned chairs, mainly those born in the 20th century, as one-fifth-scale models. In many cases, his work begins with drawing up plans by hand from photographs and reference materials. Not only the shape, but also the texture and color of materials such as wood, metal, and fabric are reproduced so faithfully that at first glance, you would never know they were models. When he once visited Hans Wegner in Denmark, Wegner reportedly praised one piece, saying, “This is not a model. It is the real thing.” With those words in his heart, he continues today to create the next work, one chair at a time.