"There was an artist who always painted alone." "Neither has he been bothered... nor has he bothered anyone." "Loneliness and the feeling of estrangement lead me to creation." "We better go inside." "Maybe I should go to the toilet first." "Yes, we can do an interview." "Really?" "Like that?" "Sure." "Then Mr. Nara..." "Where's the body?" "As an artist, have you... changed or has your artwork changed?" "I feel like I'm part of a team working on this." "I'm not doing this alone." "Will you close the back?" "Isn't it difficult working like this?" "Yes, of course..." "But maybe you didn't think of it as work..." "There's no way you think of it as work." "What are they?" "Who are they?" "What is this?" "Yoshitomo Nara" "Directed by Koji Sakabe" "Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara" "There's a line." "I know." "Seoul, Korea June 2005" "There were a lot of people." "There were." "Don't roll the camera..." "I'm embarrassed." "Nara." " Nara?" " Yes." "I think I had this room before." "Was this the room?" "Yes, it sure was." "It's one of the bigger rooms." "All right." "People ask me why I draw those kinds of faces." "They ask why the eyes are like that." "But I don't know why." "They all just end up like that." "If I consciously tried..." "I can draw things that will impress people." "They're probably real because I don't draw them consciously." "Things that are real don't need a reason." "She said, Handsome." "Me?" "She said your face is handsome." "Thank you." "Yoshitomo Nara Fan Meeting in Korea" "Why aren't you married?" "Do you have plans to get married?" "When are you going to get married?" "My name is Sehee." "I'm 7 years old." "How did you come up with them?" "Then it said, Back." "On the back, it said, They're really amazing." "Uncle Yoshitomo" "I call out your name when I'm sad." "How did you come up with them?" "Um..." "How did I come up with them?" "I don't know." "I couldn't come up with anything when I was a child." "But when I grew up... and when I think of my childhood, I come up with many things." "That's what I think." "7 years old?" "Shall I draw your face?" "I'll draw your face." "I told her to keep looking at you, and she does." "Sorry..." "It doesn't really look like you." "I hope you'll forgive me." "She said she likes it." "This is since I was a practice teacher in a girls' school." " It was incredible." " Yes." "It was interesting." "Yeah." "And it was different." "You know..." "It was different." "The only person who truly looked at my works themselves... was that little girl." "Incredible..." "Hirosaki City, Aomori" "Nara's birthplace" "I love pears." "You do?" " I love them." " I just had one." " Pears?" " Yeah." "They're so good and juicy." "I really love them." "Now we have the What's New section." "We'll have some music after the notice." "We have guests at our studio today." "First, Mr. Hiroshi Saito of JOY POPS." "Gacho-n." "What a greeting!" "And the other guest..." "I brought a friend today." "Let them hear your voice." "Gacho-n." "Why not Byo-n?" "You should've been more original." "You're right." "That's great!" "I wasn't expecting a greeting like that." "Introduce yourself." "Hello." "I was here before although it was a while ago." "My name is Yoshitomo Nara." "I'm back in Hirosaki." "Welcome home." "This is Mr. Yoshitomo Nara." "I'm home." "Why did you come back this time?" "Gacho-n." "Next year, in the brick warehouse... where I had my exhibition last year..." "I mean..." "This year where I had my exhibition..." "I will have the largest exhibition I've ever had." "He's using the entire brick warehouse." "That will be something." "The meaning of AtoZ is from A to Z..." "In other words, everything." "From the back, from the front..." "Yes..." "From the side, from the corner..." "From the top and bottom." "Everything, right?" "Let's not get too weird..." "It's an exhibition that will manifest everything in me." "And I need volunteers so..." "I'm having students of Hirosaki University to help out." "It'll be a good experience for them." "I think so too." "Mr. Nara, thank you very much." " Gacho-n." " Gacho-n." "And thank you, Mr. Saito of JOY POPS." "There're a lot of people doing the same thing." "People who paint..." "Compared to those people..." "I know I'm really lucky." " You, right?" " Yeah." "And then..." "That luck is something you bring onto yourself" "I think it's pure luck." "It's not God's will" "It's mere coincidence." "People who are unlucky get famous after they die, like Van Gogh." "They don't know they'll become famous because they're dead first." "They die thinking they were no good." "I'm sure there are many people like that." "But I've received some acclaim while I'm still alive." "You think you're receiving more acclaim than you thought you would" " Much more." " That's what I thought." "Compared to the last time we talked about this... your paintings are worth 3 or 4 times more?" " No." " More?" "Yeah..." "Several tens of times more." "Because before..." "Do you feel pressured by that?" "I don't feel pressured..." "I don't feel pressured but..." "I don't think I've put out everything I can." "I understand." "It's not what I want other people to see." "But for yourself?" "Yeah..." "I really want to empty myself out." "But you'll never be satisfied." "You'll never reach an ending." "No, and I think it's my very own issue." "When it comes to other people..." "If we talk about what other people think of me..." "I've accomplished more than I think I have." "In that sense..." "I could die tomorrow and not regret it." "If you never reach the peak, you'll never go downhill." "There's still so much that I want to search for and do." "Then you have a long way to go." "In that sense, you still have the beginner's spirit." "It must be the beginner's spirit." "I think so." "Nara's atelier and home August 2005, Tokyo" "Hot water so the grime comes off easier..." "If you're leaving..." "Oops, I stepped on underwear." " I'll take you to the station." " Really?" "When he paints... he always does it alone." "No need for a luxury car or apartment" "(although they would be nice)" "No need for money (but better with than without)" "I've been knocked down but I won't run away!" "Something's not right." "Something fundamental is not right." "Very fundamental." "Dear Mr. Nara Thank you for making me happy" "From Sehee" "Uncle Yoshitomo." "Letter from Korea" "Hello." "Thank you for remembering Sehee." "I was surprised with what Sehee wrote, which you read at the fan meeting." "I want to call out your name when I'm sad" "As her mother, I can't stop wondering how long she has felt that way." "Since I know the lifestyle of artists better than anybody..." "I didn't want it for my own child." "I knew Sehee loved to draw and had a talent for it... but I pretended not to notice." "Sehee knew how I felt and kept her feelings to herself." "After the fan meeting on the way home... she told me how she felt inside." "Mom, I want to be an artist." "The day I met you..." "I was finally able to listen to my daughter's thoughts." "And I was able to look at Sehee's world with a happy heart." "Sehee lived in a remote countryside until she was five." "She was raised by her grandmother." "She started living with us... when she was about to enter elementary school... but she feels claustrophobic here." "She begs us to move to the greener countryside where brooks flow." "I asked her if she wouldn't miss her good friend Hye-yeong... but she said she will make friends with the brooks." "Unlike the adults, Sehee wasn't foolishly worked up or infatuated... just because she met a celebrity." "For Sehee, you are a part of her daily life." "She is not the kind of girl who begs me to let her meet you... and she doesn't call out your name in her sleep... and she doesn't look at the books of your artwork everyday." "She lived apart from her mother for 7 years but... she never showed that she missed me and kept her feelings inside." "On the way home after we met you... why did she decide to tell me that she wanted to become an artist?" "Did she receive some kind of energy from you?" "I can only wonder what it was." "As I said earlier in the letter... for remembering the words of a little girl... and taking them into your heart..." "I thank you." "The picture is refusing to come out." "But isn't it a lot different from before" "It is." "I want to know what happened to the hair." "Does she mean that?" "He first built a small house... after living in Germany for 1 2 years." "When I came back to Japan, what surprised me most was... that my pictures were more famous than I thought." "It wasn't just the art people." "Ordinary young people also knew them." "I was quite surprised and really happy at first." "I was excited but..." "I gradually began to feel pressured about being known... to people outside the art industry." "But I don't know why." "The rough sketches I made..." "the ones most familiar to me..." "I displayed them in a room made of old concrete panels." "Yokohama Museum of Art, 2001" "My professor from my university in Japan came to the exhibition... and said to me..." "It looks exactly like your room when you were a student." "He said it was the same size and... the way I pinned sketches on the walls was also the same." "It made me realize that I had wanted to go back to something certain." "Not something that people look at or something that I'd show people but..." "I wanted to go back to a place where I felt most comfortable." "That's what I realized." "That was probably the beginning of my building small houses." "They were the ideal place for the exhibitions he envisioned." "It's a good size." "Travel companion" "Hideki Toyoshima of graf" "I have an idea." " You do?" " Yeah." "I have an idea." "The glass would be kind of the attraction and... this side would be a type of room you'd see on a stage." "I get it." " I get it." " You got it" "But you know..." "When you go through here, you're already in the glass room." "Yeah, and you can see the inside here..." "It'd be more interesting if you can see a bigger picture." "to emphasize the small house standing inside." "Maybe we can just do this and connect them like this." "Complicated corners are good." "Yes..." "We need cups." "Oops..." "Do you have a lighter?" "Really good friends," "like the ones you had in elementary school or junior high... the ones who have the same tastes..." "Try to remember the time when you found your first friend." "I can't explain it well but that's what it feels like." "It's like doing something with your first friend." "It's so different from doing things on your own." "The joy of accomplishment is not just yours alone." "You can share it." "When you share the joy, it gets twice as big." "It's probably something people already know, but I didn't." "It was a pleasure similar to making a friend for the first time." "Do they have A and B today?" "I only have a 10,000-yen bill." "Mr. Nara, do you cook?" "No..." "I still have rice that I bought 5 years ago." "That could be dangerous." "I bought a bag like this and there's still this much left." "Then where do you usually eat?" "At a curry stand." "It doesn't sound healthy." "Curry and rice..." "Pork cutlet..." "I've written a fan letter to the cutlet shop." "I wrote about five because it said I could win a 1 0,000-yen meal coupon." "I lied in the letters." "I never get tired of this taste." "We just set the floor down in the drawing room." "We have to nail it down." "Okay." "We only brought one compressor this time, so it's slower." "Pretty good." "Yes." "If I were doing this alone, I would never be able to come this far." "I love small houses" "Right under the space between the windows." "Wow..." " Wow!" " Cool!" "You guys are sparkling." "It's like Amsterdam." "Wow." "Wow..." "They're sparkling." "Ready?" "Osu, osu, osu..." "Cheers!" "Why is this different?" "The color is different depending on where you peek in." "The black part and..." "White!" "White!" "Brown!" "Small houses in the number of the alphabet... from A to Z. AtoZ Press Conference" "AtoZ Press Conference We made 23... 26 of them." "We made 23... 26 of them." "Each has a different design and the artwork is displayed differently." "They all have different contents." "At the end, we want to burn them like a bonfire." "Burn them and then retire..." "Do something that is worth retiring for..." "I talked about it with the people who helped me build the small houses." "Is it already empty upstairs?" "You can go take a look." "You can go in all the rooms." "Here it comes." "Did they always play this?" "Yes..." "Always at this hour." "It's embarrassing." "Gross." "What are you drinking?" " Soy beans." " Soy beans?" "It said new product which made me want to buy it." "Yuck." "It's not soy milk?" "It is soy milk." "Now I know why it says silken texture." "It's like drinking silken tofu before it gets firm." "How long were you here?" "Exactly 5 years." "I moved in during the fall of 2000." "So it is exactly 5 years." "You're going to miss it, aren't you?" "I'm missing it a lot." "Yes, I will..." "What was the five years like?" "I know it sounds trite but they flew by." "It feels like my body... got too soft and wrinkly and bloated." "It sort of feels that way." "It doen't feel like I'm hard case any more... but like I got a little too mild." "Not in a good sense?" "No, not in a good sense." "I started moving out my things and this place got emptier and emptier." "It started looking like it did when I first moved in." "And I started remembering... that stringent atmosphere of the beginning." "Of course it's still stringent but..." "I've been able to get by fine even if I had to hold on by my fingernails." "But now there are other people besides myself to consider." "So if I put it well..." "I've matured." "If I put it badly..." "I'm putting other people before myself." "I think I could be more selfish..." "Not could be but I should be more selfish." "It just occurred to me." "I wonder how I should be." "Bangkok, Thailand December 2005" "It costs 120 yen" "Per one of these." "I wonder if they'll give us a discount if we buy a lot." "He's here." "They look alike." "Do we look alike?" "He's taller." "He's big." "That was a surprise." "You guys really look alike." "Are you hungry?" " Yes." " Yes." " Kate!" " She's so nice." "Kate is becoming a true teammate." "Yesterday I saw her cleaning when she thought nobody was watching." "Thank you!" "Thank you, Kate." "Then let's go with cincin." "Cincin!" "Have you ever drawn to this kind of rhythm?" "No." "But you're okay with it?" "It's a challenge." " A new challenge." " That's right." "But I'm enjoying this." "I'm tired." " Onisan." " Onisan" "Peace..." "Ideal..." "Capitalist culture" "I can't wait to go to Hirosaki." "Really?" "There's never going to be another project like AtoZ." "You're right." "I'll regret it if I don't give it everything I've got." "And you know..." "I'll work like my life depends on it." "March 2006" "Okay." " Bye!" " Good luck!" "Next year?" "You wear glasses." "I actually have really bad eyesight." "But not being able to see well is just right for me." "Wind velocity 0m Temperature -2" "There's quite a bit of snow." "They got more done over here too." "The light shines through nicely." "It does." "Let's say, for example, by setting a goal like AtoZ... we can give it all we've got." "Nothing is on a bigger scale than this." "We'll never have such close collaboration as this again." "I think small houses... can almost be art in themselves." "Like paintings or sculptures..." "And small houses." "They're actually so deep that it makes me feel this way." "Something like this" "We have 16 volunteers today." "My name is Hirai." "I come from Shizuoka." "My name is Yonemura and I come from Nagasaki." "Wacky, congratulations!" "Close!" "Do it again." "Are you ready?" "3... 2... 1..." "Are you ready?" "3... 2... 1..." "July 2006" "What are they?" "Who are they?" "What is this?" "This too." "So now, we'll hear from Mr. Nara." "Where's Mr. Nara?" "Mr. Nara!" "Mr. Nara!" "Which one is Mr. Nara?" "I don't know either." "This one." "You ate it." "Don't eat the microphone." "I'm Pyonko the Rabbit." "Let's begin the AtoZ Exhibition!" "I think Hirosaki Park is that spot with a lot of trees in the front." "Behind that, right?" "That means the brick warehouse is over there to the top right." "It says YOSHlTOMO NARA + graf." "Really?" "The AtoZ sign is huge." "It is..." "I see it." "I work with other people a lot these days." "And now, unlike before..." "I don't draw those cynical children." "They're still desolate but... they're not as transient." "The pictures are a bit deeper now." "At least I think so..." "But it's not an evolution of my paintings as artwork." "It's because I learned how to interact with other people." "I don't know if it's a good thing for my artwork but... it is true that I can now draw things that I couldn't before." "It's also true that I now can't draw what I used to be able to." "But changing is better than drawing the same things forever." "Yoshitomo Nara" "Narration by Aoi Miyazaki" "graf AtoZ Team" "Volunteers who helped out at the exhibition" "Everybody we met on our journey" "Smashing" "Marvelous" "Stop pulling!" "Me and Mr. Nara..." "We're going to do it." "We will." "We're going to build a town." " We'll go A to Z." " Let's go for it." "An uncharted, imaginary town that existed for only 3 months..." "But the town really did exist."