#行​方​不​明

[fallynleaf-gifs]

行方不明展 | A Missing Exhibition　「正体不明」 "Unidentified"

“You looked at your watch and you said, ‘In 15 minutes, we’ll disappear.’ I suddenly got scared then. What would happen after we disappeared from this world? What would happen to us afterwards? Where would we go? We wouldn’t die, that was for sure. So how would we be able to tell if where we went was where we belonged? We’d probably end up in a place we’d wish we hadn’t gone to. But we would never come back again. 5 minutes left.”

(translation mostly by @allgoldenelite)

[moji2]

「暑い」

僕の空調服どこにいった？

[fallynleaf]

Struggling with pressure from society and middle school life, two teenage boys decide to disappear from this world and go to another one. But as it turns out, it’s very hard to cross a threshold if it means that you’ll never be able to return to the way things were before…

Fate Unknown is a fanfic for a Japanese work that's so obscure, I basically approached the project like I was writing original fiction.

If you're in the mood for a 17k word novella that's speculative-fiction-leaning horror as well as romance, come check it out. It's about a feeling that I think every gay person has experienced, which is the desire to disappear from the world.

(cover art by @allgoldenelite)

[amp-tucker]

ハワイ州マウイ郡（アイランドニュース） - 大陪審は、児童性犯罪の罪で起訴されたマウイ消防署大隊長を起訴した。

ショーン・ロジャースは、14歳未満の未成年者に対する継続的な性的暴行と第一級性的暴行の2件の罪で逮捕され起訴された。

[gekiyasujungle]

勢いとかノリみたいな感じで決まったデートでした。あのちゃ、しばらくド緊張の日々やったね...。お疲れ様。仲良くなってから、渡せるかも分からんのに勝手にプレゼントしたいものが沢山増えてておもろかったし、ちゃんと渡せる日が来てマジで嬉しかった。ありがとう。

朝は早朝に一緒に起きましたね...。緊張しすぎてる、あの様でしたので、死ぬんやね？？？とガチめに心配だったけど、準備やら何やら頑張ってくれて、ありがとうでした。合流するまでも、緊張緊張緊張！！みたいな感じで、こっちまで緊張するのでやめれる？？？と思いましたが無事に合流出来て良かったです。すぐ、あのちゃんやん、となりました。おもろ。そっからもおもろかったよね、まさかの後部座席希望されて、マジでタクシーやん？！となりながらも後ろに乗せましたねー。おもろすぎ。そんで、あのちゃの緊張が治まるまでドライブしましたね。軽く一時間くらい？だったかな。俺がずっとひとりで話してたのおもろかった。初めての電話思い出したね。会話もタクシー運転手すぎてわろたけど。

ぴ｢天気いいですねー！｣

あ｢......ふふ。｣

ぴ｢大丈夫そ？？？｣

みたいな、ね。その間、あのちゃんをミラー越しに見てたんですが、絶妙によく見えん位置にずっと居て、ミラーの見え具合まで把握しとんかい！となりました。別に把握してなかったらしくて、そこもおもろかった。あ、あと後部座席から助手席にプレゼント置いてくれてばらまいてくれたくだりも笑った。嬉しすぎた、ありがとう。プレゼント可愛すぎたしね。大事にするね。

ちょい慣れてきた？辺りでブラブラしたね。最初はなかなか目合わせてくれんかったし、しゃかしゃかと歩くので迷子になるぞ？？おい？？となりましたが。ようやく少し話せるくらいに成長してくれてて嬉しかったのが、ここらへんかなー。2時間くらいしてから、よな。うける。

ガチャガチャを物色しまくったね。久々にガチャガチャ回しまくった日だった。楽しすぎた。あのちゃの引き運やばかった。俺が両替してるあいだに、ガチャガチャを真剣に見てるあのちゃを遠目に見てたら目が合ったの、エグすぎた。かわよでした。らぶそーすいーと爆音。

ガチャガチャ回しまくってからー、あのちゃの緊張が解れて、お腹空いて死にそう、とのことだったので、連れて行きたかったとこにご飯は連れていきました。ここもおもろかったよね？？まずハエがいっぴき居て、席替えしたのおもろかった。あいつダルかったね。メニュー決めは、マジ俺ら以心伝心て感じですぐ決まって最高でした。そっから、ご飯来るまでガチャガチャ開封してテーブル散らかしてたのおもろかったね。ちゃんと片付けました。偉い。そんでー、パンケーキ食べたんすけど、パンケーキの上のバターがまん丸で、それが初期段階で転げ落ちたのシュールすぎておもろくて声出た。マジ笑った。天才すぎ。バター無くてもいいもんね！！って言ってきたのもおもろかった。でも無くてもまじ美味だったね。パスタも唸るくらいうめーかった。

その後はー、俺がなんか写真欲しい！！となって。プリクラ撮ったね。最近のプリクラ、マジ貴様だれ？？みたいになって、うけた。あのちゃんがiPhoneで撮ってくれたやつが、結果良すぎたね。でもプリクラもマジ楽しかった。また撮ろう。次はポーズ決めまくってからね。

その後はー、まあ、カラオケ行くかー、ってカラオケに行きました。ふたりで何曲か歌えたのが幸せすぎた。永久保存すぎ。やっぱ、あのちゃの声すきだわ、となりました。今度はもっと歌ってね。

あのちゃが写真とか動画とかたくさん残してくれてて、思い出を形に残してくれてほんと良かった。丸一日も過ごしてないのにずっと楽しくて余韻やばかったね。手紙、音読させられると思って書いた俺もおもろかったすぎん？？照れくさすぎたけど、ちゃんと読めて良かったです。思い返してみても、ずっと楽しすぎたなー。ド緊張時間も含めて、ね。ほんと楽しくて最高の時間でした。ありがとうね。大事にしたいものがまた増えました。あのちゃんの感想文も楽しみにしてますね。あ、また計画も立てましょう。幸せ時間、ありがとうでした。幸！

[swdgf]

《我的一个朋友》 by 孔恰

[taiyaki-taberu]

『アズミハルコは行方不明』

女子高生のギャング集団により男性が暴行される事件が多発していた。そんな中、毎日に退屈している地元の男女3人が集まる。

他の作品もいくつか読んできたがこの作者は地方民をよく描く。相当退屈だったんだろうなと読むたびに思わされるのがなんか切ない。でも分からんでもないので読んでしまう。

序盤に女子高生ギャングについて紹介していたのだが最後まで多くの語はられなかった。それが中心となっていたわけではなかったのがあれ？というすこし肩透かしをくらった。何を主張したかったのか正直掴めない作品だった。

2024.9.7

[m6o9e]

[tokyonow]

(7月19日深夜2時『行方不明展』特別番組が放送決定！ヒグチユウコ×大島依提亜 オルタナティブポスターも解禁!! – Tokyo Nowから)

[happyhappypuppy]

『バーナデッド　ママは行方不明』 Where’d you go, Bernadette

人嫌いの建築家バーナデッド・フォックスは20年前に手掛けた仕事を台無しにされたことから引退し、家庭で娘を支えることに専念していた。しかしかつてのショックから立ち直れないまま、不眠やママ友と上手くやれないなどの問題を抱えている。ある日娘のビーから「家族３人で南極へ旅行に行きたい」と頼まれる。バーナデッドは乗り気でないが…。

家族の絆が固い…すごい…。人嫌いなのに娘のために人付き合いを何とかしようと頑張ったり、娘のために怒ったり、車ではきちんと話を聞いて…。娘にMom is best friend.と言わせるってすごくない？そんで、母が逃げたというエルジーに対して「ママが私のいない場所へ行くわけない」という返し。もちろん映画だしフィクションなんだけど、母が尊敬できる人って娘の自信や行動に大きく影響するなあと思った。そして、南極に新しい基地を建てたいと決めた瞬間からの行動の早さよ。勝手に南極点息の船に乗り込むだけじゃなく、責任者に「私が変人と天才が好きで助かったわね」と言わせる力量。観ていてとてもワクワクする映画だった。ケイト様美しい。やっぱり天才キャラが似合うわ。娘役のエマ・ネルソンめちゃくちゃかわいい。

[fallynleaf]

(This is an afterword for Fate Unknown, my fic about the limited distribution short film 正体不明 that was produced for 行方不明展 "A Missing Exhibition". Contains full spoilers!)

"人間には 行方不明の時間が必要です" , roughly "People need time to be unaccounted for" is a line from a poem by Noriko Ibaragi that has come up repeatedly in Nashi's interviews as an inspiration for A Missing Exhibition. Here's an interview (in Japanese, sorry) where he talks about it.

He says that when most people hear the word "行方不明" (going missing/disappearing/unaccounted for/whereabouts unknown), they tend to think of missing persons, kidnappings, crimes, etc.

But there is also another side to it, which is "社会的な文脈からの解放" (liberation from societal context). This is the concept that A Missing Exhibition is built around.

I think the reasons Kashima and Tsunaka had for wanting to, well, "liberate themselves from societal context" in the original film were intentionally left open-ended so that the viewer could project whatever you wanted onto them.

I think, though, that the interpretation of the characters as gay is included in that, maybe even deliberately, and that it is maybe the most straightforward interpretation, considering how the big twist in the 正体不明 film reframes the whole exhibition as basically one big desperate labor of love that Kashima spends nine years putting together just for the mere chance that he'll be able to see Tsunaka again.

Nashi also talks about how there is either hope or despair in the concept of “行方不明” that the exhibition expresses.

Personally, I feel like rather than an either/or, it’s almost a simultaneous hope/despair, like there’s a despair that drives people to want to disappear from the world, but also a hope that there is somehow a better world out there for them that they can escape to instead. If there wasn’t despair, there wouldn’t be a reason to disappear to somewhere else, but if there wasn’t hope, there wouldn’t be a reason to try for a new world rather than just dying in this one.

With the 正体不明 film specifically, I think the ending sort of lets you choose whether the feeling it leaves you with is hope or despair depending on how you interpret what happens. Like, I choose to believe the characters get their happy ending, and that Tsunaka is able to come back and stay in this world and that he and Kashima can be together and get a second chance at happiness.

I dunno if I’ve ever talked about this here before, but I personally really dislike the isekai genre. I don’t like the concept of death being the only way to solve all your problems and let you live in a world you actually want to live in, rather than having to fight to change the world you’re already in so that it becomes livable.

I didn’t think of A Missing Exhibition in terms of isekai until I saw Nashi bring it up, but the thought that kind of stuck with me is that in some ways, A Missing Exhibition is about the world left behind rather than the world people go to. I realized that concept was just infinitely more compelling to me than the isekai premise. How do the people in the real world deal with the loss of the person who got suddenly isekai’d away? How do you find a way to continue to live in this world?

I love the fact that on the surface, A Missing Exhibition is about a whole bunch of people disappearing to other worlds, but the story in 正体不明 is actually about bringing one person back to this world. That’s just beautiful to me.

I refer to A Missing Exhibition as "horror" because it's a project made by a bunch of creators who are active in the modern horror scene in Japan, but what's fascinating to me about it is that 正体不明 actually isn't really horror (Nashi calls it speculative fiction instead). The story is much more gentle than that, and it's far kinder to the characters than horror tends to be.

I don't know why I find that so fascinating. Maybe it's just that there's something kind of neat about seeing the tools of horror storytelling applied in such a different way. Maybe horror creators, too, need some time where they can liberate themselves from the societal context of being a horror creator.

(Incidentally, Tokio Omori's immediate next project after A Missing Exhibition was producing a BL drama. Well, it was still very much an Omori work...)

I had some amount of trouble titling this fic. I won't go too deep into it because it gets a bit lost in translation, but the whole exhibition has a themed naming pattern around words which end in 不明 ("unknown"), with the two most important ones being of course 行方不明 (literally "whereabouts unknown"), which the exhibition focuses on, and 正体不明 (literally "identity unknown"), the name of the short film.

The actual exhibition was divided into four sections, dealing with missing people, places, things, and memories, respectively:

「ひと」の行方不明 was 身元不明 「場所」の行方不明 was 所在不明 「もの」の行方不明 was 出所不明 「記憶」の行方不明 was 真偽不明

In the interview linked above, they talk about the film 正体不明 as being basically a fifth part of the exhibition.

Seeing that, I thought, "well, my fic is the secret sixth part, then!" So of course I had to choose another 不明 word to fit into the naming scheme. I settled on 安否不明 (literally "fate unknown") because the story I wanted to tell is about what happened to the characters afterward.

Something I kept thinking about as I wrote the fic was about how you can survive a disaster without fully surviving it. There is of course that idea of people going to another world where their fate is uncertain, but I think, too, there is an uncertainty with coming back, like Tsunaka does.

The original 正体不明 film never defines exactly what was so hellish about the world Tsunaka came from, so I decided that his hell was basically a world with even more extreme capitalism and oppressive heteronormative norms than our world.

So then the story becomes, how do you recover from extreme heteronormative capitalist burnout? Can you ever truly recover from that?

I had some trouble writing this part because the short film really doesn't give us a whole lot of context about who these people even are outside of the exhibition. Like, what kinds of hobbies do they have outside of an obsession with disappearing to another world as teenagers? They're both probably extremely done with that concept now after everything they went through, haha.

I came up with birdwatching as a hobby for Tsunaka through kind of a roundabout way.

One of my Japanese study buddies had written about a book called How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell, which had helped get him into birdwatching. I thought maybe having Tsunaka get into birdwatching would be a way to give him something to do while also maybe offering a bit of a balm to the harms inflicted on him by capitalism, so I actually paused working on my fic to read How to Do Nothing to see if that would give me some ideas, and it ended up being way more thematically appropriate than I had even considered.

The book actually literally addressed basically the same impulse that drives A Missing Exhibition: the whole desire to leave the world.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

One reaction to all of this is to head for the hills—permanently. In the second chapter, I look at a few different people and groups who took this approach. The countercultural communes of the 1960s in particular have much to teach us about the challenges inherent in trying to extricate oneself completely from the fabric of a capitalist reality, as well as what was sometimes an ill-fated attempt to escape politics altogether. This is the beginning of an ongoing distinction I’ll make between 1) escaping “the world” (or even just other people) entirely and 2) remaining in place while escaping the framework of the attention economy and an over-reliance on a filtered public opinion.

So the birdwatching in the fic is basically literally a replacement for disappearing to another world. It both offers the characters a way to heal and also helps treat the root cause of their pain and help them live in this world.

On a more technical writing level, it was also a great boon to me because I realized I could use it to create settings that closely parallel settings relating to people disappearing (an abandoned house, the beach, etc.) but give the characters a different reason to be there.

Also, this is a VERY subtle/fine-grained point that I don't expect anyone else to pick up on, but Kashima and Tsunaka actually have fundamentally different understandings of/approaches to birdwatching. Tsunaka sort of has Jenny Odell's approach (he actually gets into it in a very similar way to her: she started out observing crows at her house), and Kashima is stuck in basically "pokemon collecting" mode, haha. I think it's tied to the fixation on collecting he had to develop when making the exhibition. So he still has a ways to go before he's able to find the kind of peace in it that Tsunaka has found.

I had planned from the start for Tsunaka's PTSD to be a big part of the story, but something I actually didn't realize while planning but realized during the process of writing was that Kashima actually has some secondhand PTSD/survivor's guilt as well from all those years he spent researching people's disappearances. And just as the birds help ground Tsunaka, they also help ground Kashima a bit in those moments.

I had to spend some time researching birds in Japan in order to write this, and because this fic has a very specific timeframe, I also had to make sure the birds would be actually viewable in the places the characters were during the months that the fic takes place, so I spent some time browsing databases and also looking at Japan in iNaturalist. I found out about the short-tailed albatross and immediately knew that I was going to have to feature it in some way.

At this point, the fic started to veer more ecology/conservation focused, but I asked myself "what would Omori do?" and concluded the answer was "put more politics in" fgkdjhg so I ended up just embracing it. Sure, I'll turn A Missing Exhibition into a gay romance with overt anti-capitalist/ecological themes, why not?

Regarding the actual creators of the actual exhibition, I had a bit of trouble trying to reconcile the canon of the kayfabe creator of the exhibition (Kashima) with the actual creators (primarily Nashi and Omori, though Kondo was involved as well), who were themselves sort of part of the kayfabe.

Nashi, for instance, shows up as an onscreen character (as himself) in the first video for A Missing Exhibition, and he even got mentioned at the beginning of 正体不明 and was thus intended to be canon in some way in that work. I don't think Omori ever showed up onscreen for this project, though he has appeared in his own works in the past and clearly doesn't mind reality and fiction being mixed in this manner.

Even still, I actually didn't plan on them showing up in the fic, haha. It happened for a few reasons, one being that there really are not very many characters in this work, so I needed someone else for Kashima to interact with, and also this was another moment where I asked myself "what would Omori do?" and the answer was obviously "put himself in the work".

In any case, I'm grateful to the real creators for making A Missing Exhibition, and for them being extremely kind and welcoming to me when I reached out as a random LGBTQ fan overseas for whom their work resonated with.

I'm glad I started to become familiar with their work through this project, and I hope one day that more of their stuff makes it into a format that's accessible to an English-speaking audience.

Oh, by the way, there will be a book (in Japanese) coming out soon for A Missing Exhibition, though no word yet on whether or not it'll contain any new canon for Kashima and Tsunaka, or if its focus will just be on the actual physical exhibition.

I think I'd actually prefer it if the book was just the 5k characters of text from the actual exhibition, plus photographs of all the exhibits, and if it mostly left the canon from 正体不明 untouched. At most, I think I'd like just a small easter egg, like a photo of Kashima and Tsunaka together in middle school or something like that.

Though it would be nice to get proper full names for them...

[amp-tucker]

ウクライナのストライキでベルゴロドの集合住宅の一部が倒壊、17人負傷

[popomovie]

優雅な生活が最高の復讐である。

消えちゃえば？1度消えちゃうの、消えて生きるの。

@hulu @netflix @primevideo

[sakurashop]

二手塑膠袋還能做什麼？

告訴你塑膠袋可以重複用在什麼地方？

甚至塑膠包裝紙都能再利用！詳見 https://saksq.blogspot.com/2023/12/reusable-plastic-bag.html

[honnakagawa]

2月2日（金）open 12-19

お日さま嬉しい金曜日です。 どうかお日さまを浴びてほっとできる時間が皆さまに、様々な命に、ありますように。 午前中、1月に皆さまから寄せていただいた募金箱の10.200円を、《災害時ペット捜索•救助 チームうーにゃん》さんへ振込みさせていただきました。 ありがとうございました。 引き続き、店頭の募金箱は設置させていただき、今後も様々な場所へ届けられるように、長く心を寄せながら、責任を持ってお預かりさせていただけたらと思います。 チームうーにゃん代表の、うささんのインスタグラムアカウントで活動の様子がわかります。 本当に頭が下がります。 震災の翌日には動かれていました。 現在、二度目の石川に入られて、全力で捜索、救助活動をされています。 どうか一つでも多くの命が救われますように。 私がここから言うのは簡単なことだなぁ…と思いますが、同じ気持ちで祈ります。 うささんの昨日の投稿を、リポストさせていただきます。

↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ 【嬉しいご報告〜たっちちゃん保護〜】

クロエちゃん保護のあと、輪島市町野町、河井町に向かいました。 町野町では、放浪犬ハナの保護の準備、河井町では行方不明の猫たちの捜索をしました。 2人の飼い主さんに捕獲機の使い方をお伝えし、捕獲機を設置して、昨日1日の活動を終えました。 今���、一番最後に訪ねた飼い主さんの猫が捕獲機で保護できたと、嬉しいお知らせがありました🙌

明日も、迷子の子達を家族に届けられるように頑張りたいと思います。