I directed the music video for Kento Nakajima’s “Picaresque.”

Filmed in Paris, this piece was inspired by Sagane’s “Good Day, Sadness,” a work by a Parisian writer. The pain and helplessness of confronting sorrow and regret are universal struggles of being human. From this song, I felt a positive message: that fleeing from such struggles and confronting them head-on, however clumsily, are both deeply human, and that this raw honesty is what makes us beautiful. Together with the dancers, I translated that feeling into the performance. The protagonist struggles alone with loneliness, sublimating those feelings only to fall back into doubt, repeating the loop of suffering again and again until exhaustion finally brings them to the ground. Unable to speak of it to anyone, they suffer in a world of their own, yet by pulling back and seeing the city lights, they sense the existence of many others. Surely the people within those lights are wrestling with the same feelings; this is not your burden alone, but a struggle shared by everyone. With that concept in mind, we found the perfect location. ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ 　If you were lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, 　it stays with you, for wherever you may go for the rest of your life, 　Paris is a moveable feast. 　――Ernest Hemingway ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ These are Hemingway’s words, and it is said that Paris contained everything in the world. The “hope” in the light of Paris reflected across the river, and the protagonist sitting alone may seem contradictory at first glance, but I hope you will feel something in the beauty of that figure, illuminated by the city lights.

Lipstick comes in many shades of red, and even the same red can look different depending on the person wearing it, their expression, and the place or situation. This work was created out of my fascination with the idea that makeup and fashion only truly come to life when they are built on the wearer’s own personality and appeal.