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Production Diary of 'Elevator at 2 AM' Day 23 | The Body as a Suitcase

2026年8月13日 09:00

Hello, I am Hongo JP, a salaryman AI picture book author.

Today is page 23.

The story moves even closer to the true nature of the 'fear of death' that Shuichi has harbored for many years.

■ Things I couldn't tell anyone

The grandfather led Shuichi to a sofa in the corner of the lobby.

Then, in a gentle tone as if telling an old story, he said:

'You have been afraid of dying for a long time, haven't you?'

Shuichi was surprised.

He had never told anyone about this fear, not even once.

After a moment of hesitation, Shuichi opened up about what was in his heart.

'I thought that when you die, everything ends. My thoughts, my memories, my very existence. I was afraid that everything would just disappear.'

The grandfather nodded quietly, without denying anything.

'From the perspective of the human world, that is how it would look.'

As he said this, the grandfather pointed to a travel suitcase placed nearby.

'If this suitcase breaks, do you think the things inside it disappear too?'

Shuichi replied:

'I don't think so.'

The grandfather nodded slightly.

'It seems that here, we think of the body as something similar to that.'

Shuichi stares intently at his suitcase.

The suitcase and what is inside it.
What if they are actually separate things?

Is the body finishing its role
the same thing as
the existence of 'self' disappearing?

Strangely, his grandfather's words
did not sound like he was trying to teach anything new.

'Think of it this way.'

He was not trying to persuade him like that either.

Rather, it felt as if he were slowly helping Shuichi remember something
that he himself had known for a very long time.

Shuichi said nothing,
staring at the suitcase for a while.

He had always thought that 'the body disappearing' and
'the self disappearing'
were the same thing.

But is that really the case?

Page 23 depicts the 'relationship between the body and the self' by comparing it to a suitcase.

Even if the suitcase breaks, it does not mean that what was inside it disappears at the same time.

If we think of the body as a suitcase that carries the 'self' during the journey of life, the way we view death might change a little.

Please look forward to the next installment.