A gray heron is standing up against the azure sea, which is rippling. A fishing boat is moving far offshore from right to left with the noise of the engine.  When the heron occasionally shakes its head, the long, black wings on its head blow in the wind.  It’s a moment when I feel infinity.  Infinity simply means “endless”, but for humans who can only recognize finiteness, “infinity” has been a fascinating concept since ancient times.  In modern times, the concept of infinity is often taken up as a subject of consideration in the fields of philosophy, mathematics, ethics and the natural sciences, but originally it has been taken up to explore the continuity of life and death related to human existence. The concept of “infinity” was born from such a background. All living things are born and die, but only human beings recognize life and death in the same living thing.  Therefore, human suffering is deep, and culture and civilization were created to get rid of that suffering.  The azure sea, the shining sun, the standing heron, the faint engine noise, the sea breeze stroking the cheeks, everything is a finite world surrounded by infinity.

さざ波が漂う紺碧の海を背にしてアオサギがすっくと立っています。遥か沖合いを漁船がエンジン音を轟かせながら右から左に進んでいます。アオサギが時折り頭を振ると頭の長く黒い羽が風に靡きます。無限を感じる瞬間です。無限とは単純には「限り無し」という意味ですが、有限しか認知し得ない人間にとっては古来から「無限」は魅惑的な概念です。近代に於いてはしばしば哲学、数学、倫理学や自然科学の分野において考察の対象として無限という概念は取り上げられますが、元はと言えば、人間存在に関わる生と死の連続性を探究する中から生まれたのが「無限」という概念です。あらゆる生物は生まれそして死にますが、同じ生物の中でも生と死を認識するのは人間だけです。それ故に人間の苦悩は深く、その苦悩を取り払う為に生み出されたのが文化、文明です。紺碧の海、ギラギラ照り付ける太陽、たたずむアオサギ、微かなエンジン音、頬を撫でる潮風、すべてが無限の中に囲まれた有限の世界です。