I Love Time Spent Researching

The other day, "Buratamori" suddenly aired its final episode.

As someone who rarely watches regular television programs, I had been looking forward to this show almost without fail since the beginning. I feel very disappointed that this time has finally come.

While the regular broadcast has ended, the possibility of it returning as a special was suggested. I truly hope they will wander around somewhere in Japan at least once every six months.

"Buratamori" is a program where Tamori wanders around every corner of Japan, but it was unique in that its main theme was not visiting tourist spots or historical sites. The program focused on things like the topographical maps of each area and the formation of geological strata, making it an ideal show for someone like me who loves looking at maps.

It also became a staple for experts on local history, topography, and geology from each region to appear in every episode.

Whenever someone like that appeared, saying things like "I have been researching local history for 30 years," I felt very envious. I believe research is essentially the act of investigating, and I have a longing for a job where one spends decades researching a single theme as a life's work.

Of course, part of my own work involves researching and carefully organizing information. Come to think of it, I seem to be most at peace when I am intently researching something.

Today, I was researching a certain topic for hours on end, and I completely lost track of time, with the end of the workday arriving in the blink of an eye.

Whether it's watching Buratamori or becoming so immersed in investigation and research that time flies by as it did today, I strongly feel that "if I were to be reborn, I would love to become some kind of researcher."

When I tell my wife such things, she says, "You aren't the type to stay focused on one thing."

I am not easily bored, but it is true that when I continue doing only one thing, I am sometimes struck by a sudden anxiety, wondering if this is really okay. I am also aware that I am basically a generalist rather than a specialist.

Perhaps it is precisely because I am not necessarily suited for it that I want to become an expert dedicated to a single path.

However, although I could not become a researcher who delves into only one thing in my professional life, in my private life, I have found a "life's work" in my Fujiko F. Note.

It may be a sloppy task to call research, but I think about it, assemble it, and refine the text in my own way. When I get hooked on writing, several hours can pass in the blink of an eye.

Well, I suppose this is fine.

If there is something you can get so absorbed in that you forget the passage of time, then that is enough.