Naoko Kagata

Mizuki Kiyama's short animation utilizes a paint on glass technique to render a young girl's visit to a neighborhood sento (bath house) with her mother with dazzling sensuous wonder. Evoking childish fascination at daily rituals, this quotidian act amidst feminine intimacy becomes a space of otherworldly fantasy.

Mizuki Kiyama's short animation utilizes a paint on glass technique to render a young girl's visit to a neighborhood sento (bath house) with her mother with dazzling sensuous wonder. Evoking childish fascination at daily rituals, this quotidian act amidst feminine intimacy becomes a space of otherworldly fantasy.

This story is about a place long ago, before birth and before death, that everyone knows and no one knows.

The borderland between sleeping and waking is the moment when the daughter melds into her father.

We go to sleep in hopes for a better tomorrow. The moment of truth nears as our eyes slowly open to the new day…

Shiroinu writes down the day’s events before he goes to sleep. One day, he opens a drawer buried in the snow and finds old diary entries. He realizes that he’s forgotten the sensations and emotions from that time to the extent that he feels like he’s reading about someone else’s life.

During morning roll call at school, Wataya gets more and more nervous as her turn approaches. The tension causes her to lose the ability to control her own body.