The relationship between Mr. Uemoto and his mother is probably like that between me and my father.
rockI thought Uemoto-san was also very fair. I play my part on stage, and I try to control it so that my part has more allies.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Hmm? To get allies?
rockYes, to look more like a victim. You don't do that, do you, Uemoto-san? When you write it down again, don't you think that you might be seen as a very bad person?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Me? Oh, I don't think so. Just like I can't read novels, I'm not really interested in things that aren't true. I don't think it's interesting. I don't want to put up decorations or make things up.
rockI'm sure you're being thorough, that's the thing.
The tone of your writing has changed in the following two books since "Work ECD: My Childcare Chaos Chronicles". In a way, what was once pop-oriented has become more sharply focused.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
rockThe title.
all of us(Laughter).
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Well, from the beginning, I wanted to make it a little more literary. I wanted to make it pop or put my husband's name on it so it wouldn't sell, so that's how it turned out. But I think the content of the book is quite violent.
Yes, it is. It never pops.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Yeah, I think I did what I wanted to do with these two books. These two books ("Kananai" and "Kazoku no nitsu hi") are the ones I wanted to do. Kananai" was self-published and sold quite well.
rockSeriously? At your own expense?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)1,400 copies. I sold them myself. Then I was approached.
rockThat's great.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)But I was kind of shocked by this (pointing to the DVD on the table). In "Te," you will play the mother, Ms. Iwai.
rockYes. You do strange things, don't you?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)I'm not there yet. But I haven't reached that point yet. Of course, I understand. Of course I understand that my mother has her own point of view.
rockOh, yes, yes, yes. That's because of that distance between you and your mother, isn't it?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)I've been trying to get in touch with you. I really haven't been in touch with them. I only receive rice one way or the other. And my husband has been told that he doesn't have long to live. I am in a pinch, but I can't rely on my parents. I can't rely on them, but even so, when I get really stressed out, it is my mother who comes to my mind.
rockOh, yeah.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Yeah, I'm not sure. But I still try not to contact them.
rockWhere's your father?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Fathers, you know, are like air.
rockI see. But the relationship between Mr. Uemoto and your mother is probably like the relationship between me and my father. In my case, they are complete enemies. I would never forgive my father even if he died. There are two rounds of "Te," and the first round is what I was originally going to write about, about how the siblings reunite after grandma becomes depressed, but then they get on bad terms with dad again.
I thought I would write a lot about my father's and brother's outrageous behavior there, but when I interviewed my mother, she said something completely different, and I thought, "Oh, I can't write about that. I thought, "I can't write about this." So I decided to write about both my perspective and my mother's perspective. So I decided to relive the experience a little bit, and I played the role of my mother.
The first time we did this was at a place called Ekimae Theater in Shimokitazawa. In fact, in the theater world, performing at a theater in front of a station is like a step up. It really doesn't matter. When I finally decided to do it, I thought to myself that I was doing something like box office therapy, but it turned out to be a surprising breakthrough. I had the illusion of self-counseling.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)That was a tough one. My mom was so excited that everyone was getting excited about .......
rockThe part you see from the outside?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Yes. Cry.
rockWhat is that? A wish?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)That's right. It was a fantasy, wasn't it?
rockFantasy, perhaps.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)And I would have been on the phone with my classmates.
rockYes, yes, yes.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)I thought that she is also a mother, and I have also tried unsuccessfully to interview mothers. Or rather, I've tried to interview my mother and failed. ......
rockNo, don't think it's difficult.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Hey, it's difficult.
rockI think female parents and their children are a bit different, after all.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Yes, I think so. I think.
rockIt's almost like they grow up as the same body. Looking at my wife and daughter, I feel that they have spent too much time growing up as a single living being. It's a little different from a man's parent-child relationship. There is also a work called "Married Couple," which is a continuation of this one ("Te"). My father was a surgeon, but due to some kind of medical malpractice, he died a spectacular death as a completely unrecognizable creature in the end.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Like a grandmother?
rockYes. She really did look like a purple grandmother. At that time, I felt a sense of regret that someone who had done such a job would be betrayed by his work, but I kept thinking, "Suck it up. People would say to me, "You forgave your father for making such a work," but I could never get them to really understand me by saying, "I didn't forgive him at all. Many people believe in the fantasy that (artwork), including writing, is about forgiveness, but I think that's not quite true.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I want to attack them. But it is difficult, because some readers may say, "Poor mother. But the hardest thing for me is when people say, "Well, she's family, so she's allowed to write whatever she wants.
rockAh, I see.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Somewhere along the way, I also wonder if my mom is going to die reading this.
I'm not talking about the Sasebo girl I mentioned earlier.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Oh yeah. But I also think that I won't die at a ratio of about 8:2. But I guess I chose this side. Of course, there are things I haven't forgiven, and if I say I'm making a story out of it, that's the end of it. But I can't go on without doing that.
In a past interview, you mentioned that Mr. Iwai's father came to see the play and left with a grin on his face, saying, "I didn't get it.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)There it was! That was a crazy scary story!
Uemoto's mother also wrote about an exchange in which she received an e-mail with no punctuation at all: "I'm sorry, I don't remember. I was probably too busy with work. In response, you express your straightforward feelings, "Don't be silly.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Oh yeah. Oh, I'm scared.
Listening to the two of you, I wonder if the parents are not in the dimension of "forgive or not forgive" on the son/daughter side first.
rockSo I think it is overwhelmingly true that the only way to get revenge is by not doing so (as a reflection). I was in a marriage that ended in divorce, and I didn't really think about whether or not I would have children, and I thought that if I did have children, I would definitely beat them up. I was afraid of that, but it didn't happen. But I have that blood running through my veins, so I am definitely close to that direction. The color of the words I would want to say at that moment reminds me of my father, so I would gently avoid saying anything like that. I have never seen a father who shouts, "You should respect me because I've done so much" in such a high tone.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)My mother was also really not the type of person that I would want to be around. First of all, she is not the type of person I would make friends with.
rockBut you look different to your friends, don't you? Is that not true?
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)I don't have any friends.
rockI'm not here (laughs).
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)I don't think there are any. Are you the type of person who is outgoing and doesn't get along with others? I feel like you don't show your inner self.
rockMy dad is also very outgoing, and no matter how many interviews I did, all I found out was that he is outgoing. When I interviewed people around him, I heard that he was super social and fair, and that he took everyone to all sorts of places.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)Scaryooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
rockYes. So who are we talking about? Like. At the funeral, people I had never met before came, and all they talked about, all they talked about, were things about my father that I couldn't imagine at all. I thought this was strange, so I interviewed some of them--. Then I wondered what home was to that person.
garden bonfire (esp. one held on the imperial grounds)True.