Kenichi Takanaka “Behold the Rocket Ninja!!”

“Early in the morning, when I went with my wife to fetch water, the entire valley was filled with the stench of death. The smell was so overpowering it made my nose curl, likely from a deer or boar that had died nearby. I worried about it being upstream, but at present, our well barely provides any water, so we have no choice but to fetch it here for bathing. Resigned to the situation, my wife and I each carried one of the eight twenty-liter water tanks and made our way down to the stream about twenty meters below the forest road where we parked the truck. We began fetching water, carefully lowering the tanks into the water to avoid stirring up debris from the streambed. Once the tanks were filled to a certain level, we slid them to the shore and topped them off with a bucket as needed. After filling a tank, I carried it to a flat area above, and my wife transported it to the truck. Since water is heavy, it was quite laborious. After carrying four tanks, my wife took a short break, noticing a lot of fish and moving to a deep pool about five meters downstream from where I was filling the tanks. The morning sun illuminated the pool perfectly, making the fish visible from a distance. She crouched by the pool, excitedly observing the stream crabs and numerous shrimp. Seeing that I had finished filling the remaining four tanks, my wife called out, “Come over, Dad.” I joined her, crouched down, and peered into the water. The morning sun illuminated small, transparent shrimp walking on the stones on the streambed, creating an indescribable beauty. Various sizes of minnows approached us without fear, coming right up to us. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a young stream crab curled up under a large stone on the left, staring at us intently. As I continued to look around, I noticed the scattered remains of white stream crabs lying on the streambed. I thought to myself, “Ah, I understand now.” Nature is abundant with both life and death. Therefore, to take water from nature is to accept both life and death. I deeply reflected on my hesitation to collect the water due to the smell of decay and thought to myself that, as always, my self-discipline was still lacking, which led me to a profound sense of remorse.”

― Kenichi Takanaka