A sleepless night brought me a new work.
I had intended to watch Shohei Ohtani’s game live from four o’clock the following morning.
So, at first, I thought I should go to bed at nine the night before.
In fact, I was already sleepy around that time.
But I felt that nine o’clock was a little too early, so I went to bed at half past ten.
That small shift, however, seems to have ruined my ability to fall asleep.
If I could not sleep, there was only one thing to do.
I decided to work.
And thanks to that, I made a truly wonderful discovery.
Nodoka Okisawa had conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra only a few days ago.
The work was Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.
Thankfully, the performance had been uploaded to YouTube.
I immediately began searching for a photo collection worthy of this music.
I chose the photographs I had taken with my α99 in ARW format at Mimurotoji Temple on May 2, 2022, when the azaleas were in bloom.
I also chose the photographs I had taken, in the same manner, at Nara Park and the Manyo Botanical Garden on April 30, 2022.
The main subjects are the deer of Nara Park.
And the butterflies absorbed in the radish flowers.
And, above all, the azaleas filling the spring landscape of Mimurotoji.
The total length is 40 minutes and 51 seconds.
Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony is not merely beautiful music.
It has deep shadows, inner strength, a profound sense of homeland, and the weight of life itself.
To hear this music conducted by the young Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa with one of the world’s greatest orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is a joy in itself.
And for me, it was both natural and inevitable to bring together this music with the deer of Nara, the flowers of spring, the butterflies, and the azaleas of Mimurotoji.
The deer are not merely charming animals.
They are part of the history of Nara itself, and of the Japanese view of nature.
The butterflies are not merely small insects.
In their tireless flight toward the flowers, there is the joy of life.
The azaleas are not merely spring flowers.
In their overwhelming colors, blooming all at once, there is the festive power of Japanese spring.
Without that sleepless night, I might never have arrived at this combination.
On a night when I had planned to watch Shohei Ohtani’s game from four o’clock the following morning, I encountered Nodoka Okisawa, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony.
From there, the path led naturally to Nara Park, the Manyo Botanical Garden, and the spring of Mimurotoji Temple.
It may seem accidental.
Yet at moments like this, I feel once again that a work of art comes to me from beyond myself.
The photographs from the spring of 2022 have now, in 2026, met Nodoka Okisawa’s Dvořák Symphony No. 7.
The deer walk.
The butterflies dance among the flowers.
The azaleas bloom like fire.
And the music flows deeply through them all.
This is a gift given to me by a sleepless night.