"There are no answers to be found anymore" "In this world, where storylines and rules no longer exist" "Tomorrow and today are the same future" "All I hope for now are unchanging days and something to look forward to..." "And maybe just a hint of the future" "Our two shadows sway together" "As time goes by..." "As the edges of the night start to unravel" "Right now I'm casting all the words that come to my mind into the distance" "I'm sending all the feelings I want to express from my heart to you" "As long as my voice keeps pouring out, I swear to you" "Those of us who live in time eternal have lost the concept of time." "No..." "Even the meaning of the word "eternal" or even the phrase "to live" are lost along with the concept of time as well." "Yes, unless one is alive, there is no possibility of dying." "A large stream of ki flows throughout this city." "And little by little, it changes its essence over the course of time." "But if one does not place oneself within the flow of time it only means that one's spatial existence itself is tenuous, nothing more." "Most likely, I have a different view of this city than those who place themselves within the flow of time." "Tokyo." "Such a mysterious capital." "It is a complex of multiple cities, interconnected by subterranean stems with the city called Tokyo as its point of origin." "THE capital" "Time..." "Who hasn't uttered that word?" "Time is where everyone can find himself." "Time flows differently here than anywhere else, you know." "Actually, perhaps it's more accurate to say that it seems to have stopped." "That's the notion that engulfs me from time to time." "What is it?" "You're looking at me as though I were a strange sight to see." "Surely it's not unusual to see an old man like me sitting in the park?" "No, but no one has ever spoken to me before." "You appear to be a young man but I'm sure that at the very least, you've lived far longer than I have." "That's my opinion." "What makes you think that?" "I don't know, just a feeling?" "Please don't worry." "I'm not anyone you should be wary of." "If you would prefer that I not speak of you to others, then I won't say a word." "Please rest assured." "It's just that I can tell you're not an ordinary human being." "That's something that I've always been able to sense somehow fortunately or not..." "All right, then." "Can you also sense what I was just thinking?" "Of course, I have no idea." "I see..." "So, what were you thinking about?" "Would you be so kind as to tell me?" "I was thinking about the flow of time." "The flow of time?" "Well, that's an extremely difficult topic you're pondering." "Where does time come from, and where does it go?" "Do you find that humorous?" "You just said that you were thinking about the flow of time." "But what makes you think that time flows at all?" "By asking where time comes from, and where it goes are you not already assuming that time must come from somewhere?" "The linear concept of time, comprised of a limitless past a constantly renewing present, and an infinite future can only be ascribed to a Western philosophy." "According to Mbiti, the traditional concept of time for Africans it's two-dimensional, consisting of a "long past" and a "present"..." "And it is said that they have no concept of a "future."" "In other words, time is not something that moves forward but rather something that moves backwards." "Yes." "Since ancient times, man has been particularly adept at creating abstract concepts, and capturing the essence of those concepts in metaphor." "That's true." "Or rather, one could even say that man could not have created such concepts without relying on metaphors." "For that reason, time has often been compared to "the flow of water," as you just mentioned yourself or to "the growth of plants."" "Or geometrical metaphors were used in their place such as straight lines and circles." "Yes, that's absolutely correct." "According to Edmund Leach, in some uncivilized societies time is experienced as a repetition of reversals." "That is to say, day and night, winter and summer drought and floods, or else life and death, and so on and so forth." "Every "past" is equally the "past" and no qualitative distinction can be made between "this future" and "that future."" "Because the "past" merely exists as the opposite of the "present."" "Forgive me." "In my old age, I tend to ramble on and on about whatever piques my interest." "It's a bad habit of mine." "I don't mind at all." "After all, I have unlimited time on my hands..." "Ah..." "Or perhaps I should say that I exist along with unlimited time..." "I have run into mysterious characters like him numerous times before now." "Still, I know better than to get too involved with such people." "I know that all too well." "Eventually, they will fall victim to death." "Here by yourself again?" "Oh, I remember you..." "You're here by yourself as well, aren't you?" "I found myself headed this way before I knew it." "Fortunately for me..." "You'll be the first person I've held a conversation with in a long while." "Have you no friends?" "I once had a great many friends." "Where are those people now?" "They have all passed away." "Passed away?" "My friends from my youth were killed in the war." "The friends I made in my old age are no longer here on this Earth." "Can this truly be the Tokyo that I have known?" "Years ago, this city felt the ravages of war." "I know that I myself rushed to escape the air raids." "And I also know that I crawled through the post-war black market." "It was a war that those of us who lived here in Tokyo all experienced." "I know that this city carried the burden of those memories for a long time." "Actually, I know that it carries that burden to this day." "But there are many who have forgotten that fact." "No, they don't even realize the fact that they have forgotten." "So the memories of war buried in the city of Tokyo in a way, they died twice." "And you find that fact lamentable." "Is that what you're saying?" "No, I don't believe the fact itself is either a cause for lament, or for celebration." "People are constantly born, and then they die..." "And the city is constantly changing its own appearance." "It has been that way since ancient times." "And there is simply no room for morals there." "Even so, whenever I stop to think about it the strangest feeling comes over me... that's a fact." "You might laugh at me if I tell you this, but..." "This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately..." "Specifically, that perhaps the city of Tokyo, is in fact alive at this moment..." "Alive?" "Yes." "Railways, highways, telecommunications networks, and also the river these are all distributed like a network across Tokyo's surface." "This is what breathes life into the city connecting the individual cells that live within it in other words, connecting people." "For example, each of the approximately 6 trillion cells inside our bodies has its own individual life." "But who's to say that any one of these cells is aware of the fact that it is part of a colossal life-form called the human being?" "We humans have our own individual lives, but what if, at the same time we collectively comprise a single life-form called Tokyo?" "What if we are merely unaware of that fact, just like the cells?" "Is that what you're trying to say?" "I cannot help but see this city as an entity comprised of something on a much higher level than human beings." "Those unique entities who rule the earth those we might call "Spirits of the Land."" "Or perhaps God." "It is a fact that there are aspects of the natural world that can never be understood by scientific methods alone, and there are times in the human psyche when we believe in our own existence." "And the conscious recognition of divine and sacred areas spreads until it leads to the acceptance of specific gods for each region." "In Latin, we would call that loci that is to say, the genius present in a certain "place" in other words, a spirit." "He who serves the city of Tokyo, in other words..." "The genius loci." "I'm sure you know that very well." "What do you mean by that?" "Surely you've already figured it out." "It is you who protects the city of Tokyo." "No matter what humans think I am no matter what they decide to call me it means nothing to me." "Humans are always driven by the desire to understand natural conditions and characteristics that are beyond them to somehow comprehend, record and externalize." "But now they are not content with merely naming it they are also going so far as to seek an idol in human form..." "Interesting." "Without doubt, he's an interesting old man." "But who in the world is he, anyway?" "He's very much like me." "So you've come?" "It's been a while." "Why are you always sitting in the same spot?" "I might ask why you always come to the same place, yourself." "I don't know the answer myself." "I even think that I probably shouldn't be coming here at all..." "You are waiting for someone, not me, but someone else." "And for a very long time, at that." "Am I wrong?" "That's right." "It's true, I am waiting for someone." "Ah, and for what reason?" "For myself." "And for that person's sake." "And also for the sake of the city of Tokyo." "For Tokyo..." "That's an interesting way to put it." "According to ancient Roman mythology..." "The city of Rome was built by twins who had been raised by a wolf Romulus and Remus." "They dug a ditch with a plough, and decided to place their city in its interior." "As they were digging the ditch, prayers were offered and it is said that the boundary was deemed sacred." "The reason I'm so interested in Tokyo's genius loci is that... ..unlike Rome, it was not the action of humans that gave the land meaning instead, the meaning of the land already existed and this was recognized by humans through a passive process." "To tell you the truth..." "I, too, am an entity who has been left behind by time, just as you have." "Left behind by time?" "Who in the world are you?" "I have followed every single day of this changing city for a long time." "I have lived my life observing only the city of Tokyo." "The city..." "Haven't you yourself been watching this city in solitude as it changed through the years?" "Just as I have..." "You and I exist along with the time flowing through this city." "We are both genius loci." "I couldn't get it out of my head that perhaps..." "Perhaps that old man..." "No, he might not be human, either." "And what was just a passing thought gradually turned into conviction." "That's right." "He is an entity who watches over the fate of the city, just as I do." "I want to see that old man, so that I'll know for sure..." "My speculation was completely off the mark." "The old man was nothing more than an ordinary human being." "It was just that he was somewhat wiser, more skilled in speculation and had greater powers of prediction than the average human being." "But that was all." "While that old man was alive and even now that he is gone..." "I don't believe the city of Tokyo changed in any way." "Come to think of it, I never asked him his name..." "THE END" "You were the only one who knew the real me" "This is who I really am" "Maybe being alone has made it worse?" "Please don't cry anymore" "Even if I can 't see you, I can still hear your voice" "All these memories we share" "I don 't want to shed even a single tear" "Cry baby cry..."