Life with glasses

As you ride the bus, with the hustle and bustle of the station in front of you, you walk up a few gentle slopes between new residential areas, and behind the thick trees, you can see the stylishly designed school building peeking out from half of your face. let This is the Hachioji campus of Tama Art University. It is located at the western end of Tama New Town, which is long and narrow from east to west, and is an area of the new town that has seen much development in recent years. Nearby schools include the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Metropolitan University, both of which have relocated some of their faculties in search of new locations in the Tama Hills.
Nazu Nakamura spent her high school years in Hokkaido, and now lives in Tokyo, away from her parents, and is a third-year student in the Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University. Although I occasionally think about my upcoming job hunting, I spend my days enjoying campus life. I've loved drawing ever since I could remember. When I was in junior high and high school, whenever a class needed a drawing, the first thing they asked me to do was draw Nazu-chan. As a classmate who was good at drawing, he was probably respected by those around him.

I like drawing pictures. Naju says that's definitely true, but it may not be accurate. ``It's not that I like drawing itself, but that people are happy when I draw a picture.When I include a picture with a friend's birthday present, they say, ``Wow,'' and smile. I've been drawing pictures because I'm so happy to see that reaction. That's how I feel."
Its origins date back to childhood. When I drew pictures on paper as I wanted and showed them to my parents with the confusing hiragana, they were very happy. It makes me happy and I want to draw more. And again, I get praised. That was the beginning of my love of drawing. Especially when he was in elementary school, he would draw whenever he had time.
Nazu's artistic talent seems to have been inherited from her father, who is an active graphic designer, and her father carefully saved the pictures that Nazu had scribbled and later turned them into a handmade picture book. The title is ``Nazunohon'' (Nazu no Hon). By the way, my older brother also draws pictures, and has also turned them into picture books. The title was ``Nazuka Kaiju (Nazu is a Monster)''. This is a one-of-a-kind picture book filled with the love of a father who loves the pictures and words drawn by his children.

Drawing had become a part of my life, but as I grew older, my interest shifted to music. During his high school days, he formed a band with friends from the light music club and performed at live music venues. ``Of course I loved music, but most of all I was happy to perform in front of people and see everyone smile.In the end, my motivation for both painting and music is to make others happy.'' I think now that it was.”
Before entering university, Nazu decided to once again face the world of art and aim to enroll in an art university. "My father's work was the deciding factor. He created my picture books, and he also designs advertisements, so I thought it would be wonderful to pursue this career path." He then set his sights on Tama Art University.
However, he failed the entrance exam during his active career. He had the option of going to a vocational school, but his father encouraged him and said, ``It's okay to become a ronin, just aim for Tama Beauty again.'' Vocational schools are more like rehearsals for getting into a job after graduation, and students' future career paths tend to narrow down as soon as they enroll. ``I take it as advice that you should take your time during your university years to think about what kind of job you will choose.Moreover, choose a place that will nurture you as a person.''

Nearly three years into her university career, Naju has begun to realize that drawing and design are a way to connect and communicate with others. The university has departments such as sculpture, industrial arts, product design, and textile design, and I have friends in other departments as well. As I continued to interact with my friends, I began to feel the desire to do something together and create something interesting through collaboration.
Rather than putting herself in the forefront as a creator, Naju is thinking about becoming the root of the work and connecting the individuality of various people. He seems to be aiming for a role similar to that of a producer, or in the world of graphic design, a role similar to that of an art director who brings together professionals such as photographers and illustrators.

This feeling is becoming more and more certain through the experience of a part-time job that I happened to have. It was a part-time job at an art school for children. The job is to support children's creative activities such as drawing pictures and kneading clay. ``How can I draw better?Maybe it will be more interesting if I do this.My role is to foster children's spontaneous desire to do more through such conversations. It's my job to bring out their unique perspectives and personalities. I can't wait to do this and enjoy it. I create something really wonderful."
As he said that, he showed me a photo of a workshop on snails. The smiles on the children's faces are similar to the smiles Naju saw when her parents praised her drawings when she was a child.

I wore glasses until I was in junior high school. But every time I looked in the mirror, I felt like they didn't suit me. It was like I was wearing party glasses for entertainment, and even my nose looked borrowed. After that, wearing glasses became a complex for me, and I went without them. It didn't cause me any particular problems in my daily life, but when I took a private drawing lesson, I realized that my eyesight was deteriorating. Even for objects about one meter away, the details looked a little blurry. Since practical drawing was a must for the entrance exam to Tama Art University, I prepared myself for the fact that I would finally need glasses.
It was around this time that her father asked her to go buy some glasses and took her to his favorite store. It was KANEKO GANKYO-TEN Hakodate. It was a bit of a hidden gem, located up a steep hill from the main street where the tram runs. For Naju, optical stores in the city were flashy and shiny and she felt intimidated, but she felt a sense of familiarity with the store's calm appearance, which overlapped with the interior of her home, and thought, "That's just like my father."

Her father, who was keen to buy, recommended "How about these frames?", but she preferred the objective advice of a third party rather than someone close to her, and went along with the recommendation of the salesperson. Naju herself thinks she has very clear tastes. She prefers subdued things to shiny things. She likes browns to bright colours. She likes clothes from second-hand shops to flashy dresses displayed in boutiques. But when it comes time to buy, she often finds herself overthinking it and unable to make up her mind.
After talking to Naju, the store clerk recommended her current pair of glasses. They're not the type that young women would normally choose, but they somehow fit her perfectly, and in the mirror she saw herself wearing the glasses that fit her ideal self, which made her smile. "I felt like the frames were a part of my face, not something that was attached to the glasses. I remember feeling a sense of security." Her father, who was nearby, was also convinced.
When I went out wearing my new glasses for the first time, my best friend, who had visited my parents' house before, said, "It looks like Naju's house." It was because the atmosphere was similar to her own home, with a lot of wooden and antique furniture. It seemed to explain the reason for the "sense of security" that Naju herself felt. When I was in cram school, I used to stop by KANEKO GANKYO-TEN in Sapporo and get my frames adjusted there. Another reason for the "sense of security" is that there are stores in major cities and I can immediately consult with them if I have any concerns.

I'll be starting my job hunt soon. I want to create something interesting while still cherishing my own individuality and freely connecting with the values of many different people. For the time being, I plan to use my current glasses, which I'm used to, but I also think that I'd like to get new glasses by the time I enter the workforce. Whenever I go out to the city center, I find a KANEKO OPTICAL store and take a peek inside. It seems like it won't be long before I find a new version of myself.