Hey, Kenji's been
really strange lately, huh?
Who? You mean Professor Kenji?
Yeah. He starts singing
out of nowhere
in the middle of class.
He talks about
a fourth dimension.
And last full moon night,
he did a strange Hyotan
dance in the schoolyard.
That's not all!
Some say he can
hear the voices of ghosts!
Are you serious?
Yeah, I tell you.
In the temple, he can hear
the voice of a girl's ghost!
Quiet! We should study
when our teacher's not here.
Shut up, you goody goody.
Whoa? What's going on?
Sorry, I was late.
Outside, it's so nice and warm.
The marigolds and I were
enjoying a sunbath.
I forgot about time.
Spring is really here!
Do you understand
why you feel warmth?
Warmth?
Do you know?
I don't know.
Ummmm...
You can
close your textbooks.
And close your eyes, too.
Close our eyes?
That's right.
Close your eyes, everyone.
Okay. Sure.
Even with your eyes closed...
you can feel it, can't you?
The warmth of
spring sunshine...
the breeze blowing in
like a song,
filling up your body.
Our bodies are a collection
of tiny, tiny molecules
you cannot see.
Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon.
Air, wind, water,
marigold petals--
they are all made
of molecules, just like us.
And even when
we are standing still,
molecules are racing around
inside our bodies.
Guess how many times
hydrogen molecules
smash into each other
every second?
In one small second,
they collide
over 1 0 billion times! !
This wild and chaotic
molecular movement
generates heat and temperature.
Everybody, when you're having fun,
excited...
thinking of
that special someone...
don't you feel
the warmth inside?
It's because your heart
stirs up
your body's molecules,
creating heat.
The human body
is truly
a bunch of molecules
having a wild festival!
- A festival?
- A festival?
Huh?
Hey, isn't that Miyazawa's
oldest boy?
How can he teach
when he acts like that?
Seriously, I think
Kenji's really weird.
He says our bodies
are just molecules.
So we go outside and pretend
we're ''a bunch of molecules
having a wild festival''?
- Come on!
- What a weirdo!
What's going on?
What's he got?
Shh! It's coming!
A long... extended blue voice.
A bird's blue path of string.
String... the blue string of...
I failed.
What?!
Get it off me!
What do you think this
looks like?
What do you mean?
It's just a rock.
That's right.
But is that all?
Huh?
Doesn't it look like
someone's face?
A face?
This rock is limestone.
It's smooth and pretty,
just like
a movie star.
This one is quartz.
It feels rough,
and looks stubborn,
just like our
school principal.
Yeah, it's true!
Hey!
This one looks
just like you.
This one's Kasuke.
That one's Saburo.
There are many kinds of rocks.
If you think about it,
rocks and people
are the same.
- Yeah.
- Sure.
Okay, so, why don't we try
and talk to them?
- That's impossible.
- They're just stones.
Our teacher's
really strange.
What's he doing?
Here...
listen carefully.
When we tap on rocks
like this...
we can hear
all the different voices.
That's the rock's--
the Earth's--
voice talking to you.
Six Years Earlier
Meadows,
as far as you can see.
Sweet smell of grass.
The fresh breeze washes away
the grime.
The world is filled
with light.
Standing here in this place,
I feel I'm a part of
God's world.
Let's go.
Okay.
Side by side.
Red.
Arm in arm.
Telegraph poles.
- Sketching again?
- Yes.
Coming here, images
come to me one after another.
Someday, I'm gonna build
a farm like heaven.
We'll have plays
and festivals.
I want to create
new art of the countryside.
What's your dream?
My dream?
Mine is...
...to uncover the mystery
of the invisible force
pulsating behind our world...
...and to follow the path it takes.
That's a wonderful dream.
But, how will you
find that path?
I haven't found the way yet.
But, I'm sure
you'll find it someday.
You really think so?
Yes.
I hope we can
walk the path together.
Kanai...
A dinosaur!
Over there!
In the amber sky...
...a floating creature
from the Jurassic Era.
I can't do that.
Isn't there something
you can do?
If I can't buy b*ll*ts
for this r*fle,
how can I make it through
the winter?
Yes, but it is
just an axe
and some old clothes.
But this is all that we have left.
My mother is sick,
and she needs medicine.
I really can't let you
borrow any more.
I don't have any choice.
Kenji!
You spent the night
wandering around again
collecting junk.
How about helping out
the family business a little?
Why can't you lend him more?
He's really in trouble.
Our family won't survive
if we lend money
out of sympathy.
The whole economy would collapse.
But...
why that business?
Then what kind
of business would you be in?
Well, I'll--
Well, I'll sell... Ukiyo-e paintings.
You're naive.
Who'd buy it here
in the country?
What if I go to America
and start a business?
Such big dreams.
Where would you get the money?
Well, I'll...
That's it!
I'll make costume jewelry.
How about that?
I'll craft beautiful gems
with my own hands,
work hard
half the month,
and write stories
during the rest.
Nothing but fantasies.
Your stories make no sense.
No one would read them.
And you don't
actually plan to tell customers
your gems are synthetic, will you?
What's wrong with telling the truth?
I'll make them through
a genuine scientific process.
What is this ''science''?
How long will you keep
on dreaming?
It's not a dream.
A dream!
It's not a dream!
You need more discipline.
Why don't you try to learn
to live with both feet
on the ground?
It's still warm
because you showed it
such tender care.
Your kind heart has
warmed it up.
Toshi, you're back home.
Yes, I came back on
the 8:00 train from Ueno.
I see you still
collect rocks, like before.
Yep. Yesterday,
I went all the way
to Nametoko mountain.
That far?!
Here.
Look at this stone closely
in the light.
Ah... it's beautiful.
It's black mica.
It sparkles when
you crack it open.
Ages and ages ago,
this stone was a gas
floating around the Milky Way,
where everything was
pitch-black,
when they see the darkness
turning into the deep blue sky,
these little guys inside
get so excited and surprised,
they sparkle
with wonder and joy!
What a beautiful song!
That's ''Hymn 391 .''
I learned it at a club
at college.
Really?
Did you learn anything else?
Lots of things.
Come on, open it!
It's real Sheffield silver.
These must be expensive.
Soon, I am going to make
a special cake for everyone.
When Tagore, the poet,
visited Japan,
his assistant taught me
a genuine recipe.
Really?
I can't wait!
You've kept writing,
haven't you?
Did you read
the poem ''Azalea'' I sent you?
Of course.
Say, in that poem...
''Side by side.
Red.
Arm in Arm.
Telegraph poles.''
That was about you and Kanai,
right?
What? Don't say that!
I knew it!
But... Kanai is amazing.
Unlike me, that guy really knows
where he's headed
and how to get there.
You and him are the only two
who understand me.
You're like two lovers.
Hey, now!
You're upset!
Stop it!
You know...
I get the feeling
I could walk on forever with him.
On and on... forever...
...till the end.
Toshi!
My depression was so unbearable
I left my family's home
in Hanamaki.
Since I moved in Tokyo
six months have flown by.
I now work
at a small publishing house.
I write, I write,
and keep on writing.
Next Sunday,
if it's convenient for you,
I'd like to meet you
at the Ueno library
for the first time in three years.
Let's talk into the night,
about literature, theater...
and our dream of walking
the true path together...
till the end.
Hosaka! It's me, Miyazawa!
It's great to see you!
Miyazawa?
Yes?
That path we spoke of?
I don't think we can
walk it together.
What?
Toshi!
Is she all right?
- Oh, Kenji!
- Brother!
Toshi!
You're early!
What?
Shoes. Shoes.
Oops.
You're always in a hurry!
Hey, don't get sassy.
This is Western style.
- Kenji, hold on.
- Oh, my.
- What are you doing?
- That's just like you!
You're okay
if you can laugh that much.
Me?
I've been worried about you.
Instead of having kids
I was busy writing.
You wrote this much?
There's so much I wanted
to write.
My hand wouldn't stop.
The letters would jump off
the page and bow to me!
Kenji, that's just like you!
Toshi!
I'll get a light.
I...
I don't want to die yet.
I want to keep teaching
at school.
To fall in love--
How embarrassing.
I'm talking nonsense.
It's not nonsense at all.
You'll experience it all.
Falling in love--
everything.
Stop it.
Kenji,
tell me a story.
One of the stories you wrote.
Read one to me.
Okay.
''While we may not be blessed,
with all the candy we want,
we can eat the fresh,
clear breeze
and drink the beautiful,
peach-colored rays
of morning sun.
In the forest or fields,
I have often seen torn,
ragged clothes become
the finest velvet, wool,
or diamond-studded dresses.
These types of beautiful
foods and clothes
are my favorites.
My stories
were written amongst
forests, fields and railroads,
gifts from the rainbows
and moonlight.
Walking through the oak forest
in the blue twilight,
trembling in the mountain breeze
of November,
this emotion overwhelms
my entire being.
Feeling the absolute reality
of these stories,
I wrote them exactly
as they seemed.''
Nobody read your book.
How much do you think it cost
to print all these?
Please, forgive me.
You might want to go
to the bookstore
and find out
what kind of books sell.
But I don't write to sell books.
Then help out
with the family business.
I take that back.
If I left the business to you,
you'd ruin it in an instant.
Continue with your teaching,
and devote your energies to that.
Poetical Works ''Spring and Chaos''
''I am as a phenomenon,
one hypothetical blue light,
an organic...''
''...the scenery
and all the pieces
together, intensely flickering''?
Hey, what's ''phenomenon''?
I don't get any of this.
What's all
this stuff mean?
''Compound translucent
ghosts''?
- Professor?
- Yes?
I don't get it.
I know there may be parts
that are difficult to understand.
But those parts
are even difficult
for me to understand.
Why not?
Why can't we search together?
If there really is
one great life force
driving this world...
why do people fight?
Why do living beings k*ll
each other,
even eat each other?
That's because... that's--
because such may be the will
of the life force.
Can't we search together
for the answers we need to find?
You seem...
as if you are walking
upon the clouds,
the clouds of idealism.
- Professor!
- Professor!
Oh, it's you guys.
Professor, are you sick?
I'm okay, but why are you all
gathered here?
We found out who the thief is.
- Thief?
- Yeah, my cap was stolen.
And the light bulb
from the dorm is gone.
It's Takagi.
Narao saw him stealing
in school late at night.
Till the end.
What?
Till the end...
let's walk onward.
What? What?
Walk onward till the end?
If you're gonna punish me,
why don't you just do it!
What's going on?!
Till the end...
You didn't run away.
On this earth
among the billions living here
the fact that you and I
became teacher and student
was led by some kind of
invisible force.
Right?
We could well have been
father and son,
or even brothers.
Indeed, from now on,
let's become brothers.
We'll be true brothers.
By the way,
why do you steal from others?
If you want money,
or if you want things,
as your older brother
I'll give you anything,
my little brother.
My monthly salary is only 90 yen,
but if you need it,
I'll give it all to you.
If that's not enough,
you just tell me.
I will borrow money
and give it all to you.
Now,
my younger brother,
Let me hear about your dreams.
What will you do
after graduating?
I want to work
in the city,
get a job
at some government office,
or a bank.
Won't you take over
your family's farm?
You can't make
much money from farming.
I-- I have to earn more.
Earn money, and--
Professor--
I mean, brother,
I want to help my mom and my dad
to live happily,
without any more pain.
Hey, did you hear?
About Professor Kenji
quitting school?
- Is it true?
- Yeah.
Someone heard them talking
in the teacher's office.
- But why?
- I don't know.
Because you guys
are such troublemakers.
- What?
- No!
But if he quits,
school won't be any fun at all!
Yeah. That's terrible.
Oh, it's Professor!
There, in the schoolyard!
Professor!
Professor!
Professor!
Don't quit!
You'll find me
down in the fields.
What an amateur!
It's just the hobby
of a spoiled rich boy.
He'll soon cry
and quit anyway.
In the new age
the world will be united
as one consciousness
and become a single living creature.
Understand?
He's always partying
all night.
He says it's art.
Farmers don't need art.
It's only for people of leisure.
Free Fertilizer Consultation
You think farmers
can live on flowers?
This is very tasty.
Go home.
But why?
Mom went to all this trouble.
I...
I will not eat better
than those who live here.
But, Kenji,
you're so thin.
I'm so scared
you'll end up
weak and sick like Toshi.
Go home!
Oh, no!
What an imposter!
What happened to his ''science''?
Amateurs don't know
about fertilizers.
And he says
he'll pay us all back.
He's mocking us.
His family is rich.
He thinks everything
can be settled with money.
That's what he thinks.
Professor!
Oh, it's you guys.
- Let's go, Takagi.
- All right.
I'm down in the field.
They pulled them out!
I went to Miyamori village
to develop a new fertilizer.
When I got back...
Damn!
It must be the people downstream.
I'd like to go beat them up.
But, I don't have the guts.
Instead,
putting up these markers
will calm my emotions.
I don't know.
It doesn't make any sense.
Even if you work diligently
to cultivate the soil,
even if you carefully grow
the vegetables,
when we eat them,
we steal the vegetables' lives.
Is it any different
from anything else?
By the way, Tetsuo,
it's just you today?
he had to take a job
in Tokyo.
His father got sick
and collapsed.
He can't pay back
the family debts by farming.
He felt--
he felt he couldn't
show his face to you.
Hey. Good morning.
Sorry I kept you
studying overnight again.
Ah, what a beautiful morning.
Professor?
Let's give up.
No matter how long
we keep at it,
no matter how hard
you try,
nothing will change!
- What is this?
- It's tea.
I tried using pine needles
to make it.
Professor,
you really are weird.
''While we may not be blessed
with all the candy we want,
we can eat the fresh,
clear breeze
and drink the beautiful,
peach-colored rays
of morning sun.''
Farmwork is really grueling.
That's why we should
at least try to enjoy it.
Professor...
I couldn't even make it
as a simple farmhand.
My body's heavy.
I'm sinking to the bottom
of the Earth.
I tried to eat the same food...
pretending to sacrifice
myself to the rain god.
But... maybe that
isn't what's it's all about.
Deep in my heart,
I truly believed...
that something good would
come out of it.
I'm hallucinating again.
Is this the end for me?
Within a pitch-black cloud
that clings to the ground...
Within a pitch-black cloud
that clings to the ground...
Is it impossible?
Am I unable to move that huge
dark thing?
Flickering...
is it me?
Or the world?
The light remains...
but the lamp... is lost.
Will this change?
It'll change.
Will this change?
It'll change.
How about this one?
It won't change.
No.
It will change!
It will change!
After all...
they were right.
Oh, Toshi!
I can't do anything right.
Please,
bring me fresh snow.
Please,
bring me fresh snow.
Please,
bring me fresh snow.
Please,
bring me fresh snow.
Here! I brought it!
So cold!
So cold,
yet, so warm.
Because you got it for me,
this snow's so cold, yet warm.
Toshi.
So cold,
yet warm.
So cold,
yet warm.
Toshi.
Copernicus of the new age,
take this unbearable weight
of gravity,
and liberate this galaxy!
Till the end,
the search for true happiness...
I'll give it another try...
A meteorite?
A stone from another world?
Maybe not.
Spring's almost here.
''Provoked by anger's
bitterness and immaturity,
Beneath the golden April sky,
I spit, gnash, and pace...
I am...
Chaos.''
Spring and Chaos (1996)
Moderator: Maskath3