Story

The House of the spirit of the tree

Yusuke Ehara

One summer day, A was strolling through the town. This town is filled with various sounds today.

Mr. A, who likes to take walks around town, had a secret He does not use his eyes.

One day, as Mr. A was walking down the street as usual, he heard a sound

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!"

The place where the various sounds were heard was about to start construction to demolish an Japanese old house.

B, who was doing construction work, said

B "We're going to tear down this house."

A, who did not use his eyes, felt somewhat sad.

A "Why are you destroying it? Why don't you just put it back in order?

Actually, B also had a secret: B did not use his ears.

When B saw the sad look on A's face, she did not "break it" as usual, B carefully removed the walls and floor, and "put it back together" with wooden bones.

After the construction was finished, A went inside and said

"Wow, that's great! I feel the same rhythm when I do thi s.

"Rhythm...?　Maybe that's because it's based on 910mm, which is called "shaku-kan-ho".

But B could not understand the rhythm very well.

experience the rhythm of the Japanese system of measure

B "Rhythm...?"

A thought for a moment and then said.

A "I

always concentrate on the sounds, so I sense length by the rhythm of the sounds."

transparency

B "Then, let's make a place where many people can feel the rhythm you just felt.

A “Perhaps if we made the floor “transparent”, the rhythm would look better?”

place of clinging on

B “Transparent” is the most “empty” of all. But there is a lot of stuff here.

(concrete) iron reinforcing bar

A"I don't use my eyes, but I

think the opposite of transparency is dirt or shadowy black. So, if I were to arrange what I see here, it would be in this order."

B "But the shapes are still different.

A "Well, sound can travel 340 meters per second Note 1 ,

so if we use this as a standard, we might be able to experience the rhythm together... I'll try to cut it with that length."

Note 1: Velocity of sound (m/sec) = 331.5 + 0.6 x temperature (°C) 340 (m/sec) at an air temperature of approx. 15°C

B, who was watching, said

B " Let's try to put this material between the wooden bones."

A replied

A "Sound always comes from different directions, so if you try to put it in that direction, it will work."

B "Well, let's imagine that the sound is coming from the four directions toward the pillars at the four ends."

A "But this doesn't allow me to feel the sound and the rhythm of the wood inside."

B "Yes, well, let's put this sound wall inside so that we can feel the difference in rhythm inside.

Because, you see, sound bends (diffracts).

I think we should imagine the sound being bent by the wood, and make the material a little more realistic."

A“It’s a great collection of sounds, it’s very special, Well, then, let’s make the floor this way, too, and break off the edges.”

B " Wow! Looks like you've got some outside sounds coming into the tree.

But it's still a little wobbly..."

A "Let's connect the gaps with the remaining material, Then it will be more balanced...!"

A "Wow, if you and I work together, we can make all kinds of shapes to match the sound."

A "If you put a white board up here like a painting... you can feel the rhythm of the sound..."

The original length of the tree can be lengthened, or the original columns can be taken down and replaced with other timbers because they are now old...

B "If you pulled it out, you have to support it here! It's going to fit perfectly!"

A "Let's put a roof over half of it... I'll decide the length."

B "Let's make this place climb like a ladder!"

B "Finally, we've got the balance right, and I'm glad it's not wobbling around in the rain and wind.

A "Let's put the extra material up, we can still put it somewhere..."

B "But this... where to put it is very important.”

Thus, little by little, thinking of each other, closing their eyes, covering their

their ears, and touching the materials, the shape of the building was created.

A "Time seems to have slowed down..."

B

"This is the rhythm you felt, I feel a mysterious power..."

"I don't know why, even when I'm not concentrating,

I see more patterns, lights, shadows, and dirt in the trees than before..."

Thus, one house was created.

As time went by, we began to call it "The house of 木霊" Note 2 , as the visible trees seemed to throw back the sounds from outside, and the building itself seemed to emit sounds.

Note 2:In Japan, the Chinese character for "木霊" has two meanings: echo and tree spirit.

Afterword

In this story, A and B, who have a secret, meet in a certain town and create "Kodama no Ie (House of Kodama). When I saw this, I noticed something. There are many other houses in this town. All of them have their own individuality, each with its own way of construction and decay. Even if the story is the same as this one, the way things are placed in each house is different. This will tell us about the individuality of each house to many people.

Even if they are not there, I feel that a house where people have lived for a long time has a lot of power.

The wooden structure has absorbed this power, and if you carefully "restore" it and combine it with a rhythm other than the rhythm of the wood, you can feel its power. It will become a new rhythm that will spread throughout the town.

Then we will be able to naturally sense the power in the town that we have not felt before, and we will be able to have a more human experience every day.