午夜剧场

I usually focus my Nihonga creative activities on the Nitten exhibition. This summer, I was given the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi. I teach classes at Yochisha and work on my art at night after returning home. While the days of sleep deprivation continue, the liveliness of the Yochisha students keeps me awake. This lifestyle has lasted for eighteen years; sometimes school is so busy that I cannot find enough time for production, and I have tasted the bitterness of being unable to exhibit. Some say I am lucky to do what I love for a job, but when you do it as a professional rather than a hobby, the hardships increase year by year.

In the past, I did not inform my students of my exhibitions because I did not want to inconvenience other exhibitors in group shows, and I wanted to prioritize my evaluation as an artist over my evaluation as a teacher. However, for my solo exhibition, it was featured in the Yochisha Newspaper, and many children came to visit. When students who only know me as a teacher see me active as an artist, the atmosphere in the classroom improves.

There was a time when I realized that continuing my own creative work is more important than anything else for teaching classes. During a period when school was too busy and I couldn't produce art, I knew that a student's drawing would improve if I fixed a certain part, but I couldn't find the right words to explain it. The words that used to come out unconsciously stopped coming. Even if I use technical terms I haven't taught them, students understand when they are in front of a painting. It's mysterious, but that's how it is. I believe that when someone active as an artist teaches, they can convey countless things that cannot be put into words. Since that time, I have kept it in my heart that even if there are exhibitions I cannot enter, I must never have a period where I am not creating.

Many graduates also came to this solo exhibition. There were those I hadn't seen in a long time since graduation, and some even brought their fiancés to introduce them to me.

I feel the charm of Yochisha lies in the connections after graduation. Since I teach all grades except for the second grade, I am the teacher who interacts with them for the longest period next to their homeroom teacher. I see my role as a bridge between the school and classes whose homeroom teachers have retired, or students who didn't get along with their homeroom teachers. During the exhibition, I went out to eat with graduates every day, and I still see some of them every month. This is the rewarding part of this job. Surprisingly, many of my former students go into art-related fields, and our connections remain. Some are active as professionals, and seeing them pushes me to work harder.