Kazuki Oishi

“It’s nice to know you care.”
These are the words Nobita said in the final panel of the fourth volume of the Doraemon original comic, “Ishikoro Bushi”. At the beginning of the story, Nobita is tired of being criticized by his family for being sloppy, and wants to be free, so Doraemon hands him a secret tool called a “Ishikoro Boshi” (it’s only small and tight). A person who has been hit by a stone bomb will not disappear, but no one will notice him, just like a stone lying on the roadside. Even the existence of the person who wears the mask disappears from this world, and from that moment on, the person who wears the mask no longer exists at all, and is no longer recognized at all.
TAMA ART CENTER is a space created by artist Koichi Mitsuoka in 2019 on the Tama River riverbed on the edge of Tokyo (address not disclosed). TAMA ART CENTER has existed as if it were adrift, having been built using debris from the Tama River and repeatedly washed away by the rising waters of the river. Tours are held every season, and Oishi and I were invited as performance guests to the tour held in early spring 2022.
I dressed up as Nobita, wore a stone hat, and accompanied him on the tour. Along the way, I spoke to the guide, Mr. Mitsuoka, many times, but he continued to ignore me, as my appearance and presence were no longer recognized due to the effects of the stone bomb. Although he looked anxious and dissatisfied with the repeated neglect, the tour was carried out without any problems.
During the performance, I was in pain. Unless it’s someone you have a close relationship with, like a family member, you don’t often talk to someone and have them ignore you. Even though I shared the details of the performance with Mitsuoka and asked her to ignore him, I started to feel anxious as she acted out the situation where she didn’t respond to everything I said to her, and it became increasingly difficult to talk to her next time. In the original story, Nobita initially enjoys the freedom of not being cared for, but when he discovers that his hat is too tight to take off, he is overwhelmed by the frustration of being ignored and the repeated dangers. Was Nobita like this too? It was funny to experience it myself while dressed as Tonobita. What was it like for the tour participants watching the performance? The effect of the stone bomb is me and Mitsuoka.
Since it is only effective between people, Oishi, who continues to be ignored, and Mitsuoka, who continues to ignore him, are confused. There was an ominous atmosphere. As you can see in the video, when the details of the performance were revealed at the end of the tour, the participants seemed to feel a sense of relief.
At the end of the tour, I took off my hat. I got to experience TAMA ART CENTER while on tour. During the performance, he did not intentionally make contact with the tour participants, and this was the first time he started talking to them. I think of TAMA ART CENTER as an art center where people gather and talk. Nobita’s hat got wet when he accidentally splashed water on his head and came off. After the performance, my hat came off, and I thought to myself while talking to the participants and Mitsuoka-san. It’s nice to know you care.