Vol.4
Forest of Thought
The 2026 US-China Summit Was a Business Deal That Traded Away Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
At the US-China summit, held for the first time in nine years, President Trump was accompanied not by diplomats but by a group that looked as if it were heading to a business negotiation. In substance, the meeting was held to "trade Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan." The illusion that "America will protect Japan" has vanished completely.
Kunitsukami Project
The Serpentine Sword and Shield-Shaped Mirror of the Tomio Maruyama Kofun Mark the Shift from Ritual to Arms
From the Tomio Maruyama Kofun, built in the fourth century, came a serpentine sword about 285 cm long and the world's only shield-shaped bronze mirror. Neither sword nor shield was made for combat. Both were made for the rituals that accompanied politics. The fourth century marks the turning point at which the real power of chieftains began shifting from ritual to arms.
KINEMA 2400
A Good Film Is One You Can Watch to the End｜Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition
A good film is one you can watch to the end. After Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai proved that audiences will watch even a long film, Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition appeared, running about nine and a half hours in total. The sense of mission shared by its crew and actors produced a supreme work in which time goes unfelt.