Chapter 6
(Bookmark – “The Reason for Drawing”)
It happened during Ami’s fourth-grade summer vacation.
The sky was a clear, endless blue, and the hot sun blazed overhead. On days like this, Ami and her cousin Reiko had a routine since early childhood: set up a vinyl pool in the garden and splash around happily.
That day too, they had tossed their clothes carelessly on the veranda and were squealing with joy in the water.
Reiko was the one who spoke up first.
“Ami, pose for me like a model! I want to draw you.”
“Okay!” Ami agreed with a smile.
Recently, Reiko had become fascinated by the word “nude,” which she must have picked up from TV. To her, it sounded mysterious and grown-up. Ami stood in the middle of the pool, one hand on her waist and the other at her lips, striking a playful pose.
“You look like Venus!” Reiko exclaimed, recalling Botticelli’s Birth of Venus she had seen on TV.
Excited, she gathered her sketchbook and colored pencils from the veranda and began to draw. But after only ten minutes Ami grew restless.
“I’m tired. Now it’s my turn to draw you!”
Though Reiko protested that she wasn’t finished, Ami pushed her toward the pool. Reluctantly, Reiko struck the same pose.
As Ami traced the outline of Reiko’s body, she felt a strange sense of wonder—almost as if another Reiko was being created inside her heart.
“…It’s like playing the piano,” Ami murmured.
Later that summer, Emi—Ami’s older cousin who often stayed over to teach her piano—came to visit. That night, when Emi came up to Ami’s room, she noticed a drawing on the desk: a colored-pencil sketch of Reiko.
“Wow, that’s really good! Who taught you to draw like this?” she asked in surprise. The technique was advanced for a child: rather than filling areas with solid color, it used soft shading and gradations.
“Reiko did! She said her mother showed her how,” Ami replied.
“It really captures Reiko’s feeling,” Emi said, impressed. Ami came over to look too.
“Reiko’s better than me. She’s careful about everything she does,” Ami admitted.
They chatted, and Emi encouraged Ami to try drawing more—flowers, landscapes, anything she liked. Ami giggled, asking if nudes were off-limits, which made Emi flustered and quickly change the subject.
That night, as they lay down to sleep, Emi gently told Ami:
“Drawing is just like music. With the piano, you paint pictures and emotions with sound. With drawing, you use colors. Either way, what you’re really expressing is the heart—the spirit of mountains, trees, or people. I think it will help you with your piano playing too.”
Ami thought back to when she drew Reiko:
“You’re right. When I was drawing her, it felt like she was inside me. I was so happy—I just wanted to keep drawing more.”
Emi smiled. “You must really love Reiko.”
“And I love you too!” Ami answered brightly.
About a week later, a delivery arrived: a complete oil painting set that Emi had once used as a student. That evening, the three of them—Ami, Reiko, and Emi—gathered in Ami’s room.
Emi set up a fresh canvas on the easel. Ami suggested Reiko pose as the model, and without hesitation, Reiko agreed, brimming with enthusiasm. She tried different stances—crossing her legs, turning to the side—while Ami giggled.
Emi, however, suggested they begin with still life practice using fruits like apples and oranges she had brought. Ami protested, wanting to draw Reiko instead. Emi relented, reminding them to be mindful not to get too tired.
As Reiko sat on the bed, Emi was struck by her youthful beauty, reminded of Munch’s painting Puberty. She thought to herself that girls, regardless of age, already carried the seeds of womanly grace. Emi also felt her own long-dormant creative spirit awakening again.
They began their art session, taking turns drawing and learning. Emi realized that both Ami and Reiko had inherited a natural sensitivity and creativity—Reiko’s especially seemed to come from her mother, who had studied art and once exhibited paintings at a department store gallery, where she later met Reiko’s father.
Listening to Reiko chatter about her parents while working on her canvas, Emi could clearly picture the warm, cheerful conversations in their home.
