Early in the morning of May 9, 2026, I entered Kyoto Botanical Gardens the moment it opened and photographed the rose garden. Though not yet in full bloom, it became one of the finest sessions I have ever had, including encounters with the Great Mormon butterfly and a swallowtail. A 20-minute visual poem centered on Duparc’s Aux étoiles and memories accumulated over many years at Kyoto Botanical Gardens.

May 9, 2026.
Although the rose garden of Kyoto Botanical Gardens had not yet reached full bloom, ever since I began photographing the Nakanoshima Rose Garden, I had also been checking the weather forecast for Kyoto…and I had decided that today would be the first day to go to Kyoto.
Yesterday, cutting short the rose garden in Yokohama and boldly returning home early was absolutely the right decision.
I went to bed at midnight.
When I woke up before 6 a.m., one thought crossed my mind.
As I once did during a certain period, I would enter Kyoto Botanical Gardens the moment it opened and begin photographing.
It was absolutely the right decision.
I was able to take very good photographs.
On top of that, while I was photographing in the rose garden, the king of black swallowtails, the Great Mormon butterfly, appeared.
It had been a very long time.
For a certain period, I had been fascinated by black swallowtails and kept photographing them…above all, the Great Mormon.
There was even a day when I encountered one at the water-lily pond and was able to photograph it for quite some time.
This time, it was completely unexpected, and it did not stop at all.
As if to console me, a swallowtail appeared just as I was leaving.
I was on the phone with my close friend, but I spoke to the swallowtail.
Come here, come here…
My wish was answered, and he, or she, stopped right in front of my eyes.
In the past, I would surely have kept photographing it endlessly.
Because it is no exaggeration to say that I have visited and photographed this rose garden more than anyone else, my photographing time was only one hour.
I had more than enough time to return home for the Ohtani game starting at 11 a.m.
I spent just a little of that time on him, or her.
I found the piece of music most fitting for Kyoto Botanical Gardens and for myself.
I was overcome with tears.
My long relationship with Kyoto Botanical Gardens.
The days of immense photographing hours.
It is no exaggeration to say that there is no piece more fitting than this.

Henri Duparc: Aux étoiles: Duparc, Aux étoiles.

The audio source is from YouTube.

① Chris Breemer
Duparc — Aux Étoiles

② Pierre Bleuse
Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon
Orchestra of the Lyon National Opera

③ Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor unknown

④ Leonard Slatkin
Orchestre National de Lyon
Lyon National Orchestra

Total performance time: 19 minutes 42 seconds.
Video duration: 20 minutes 12 seconds.