The Story of How an Office Worker Called a 'Death Game Operator' Escaped Their Surveillance Room [Living with Art I Fell in Love With]

“This is a room for monitoring participants gathered by a death game operator!”

That was the first thing my friend said the moment they saw my room after coming over to my new 1LDK apartment.

About the person writing this article

My home has one desk, three PC monitors, one pen tablet, three laptops, eight bookshelves, and a high-performance microphone that can also be used for ASMR that another friend gave me.

I gathered the desk, PCs, and five of the bookshelves into my work room (a six-tatami mat Western-style room), and also put a bed there so I could rest whenever I wanted. Once the cardboard boxes were cleared away, I invited a friend over.The result was the exclamation at the beginning.

I thought about kicking them out for such a rude remark, but when I looked again at the white walls, the cluster of white bookshelves, the seven monitors lined up in a row, and above all, the microphone capable of delivering 'announcements from the operator' with crystal-clear sound quality, I had no choice but to admit it. 'This is a room for monitoring participants gathered by a death game operator.'

Even though it's a new home, I don't want it to have a mysterious sense of tension. My friend, who looked down at the cluster of monitors and muttered, 'Surprisingly, it’s actually quite calm and nice in “this” place...', was also kind of scary, so I decided to rethink the interior design.

But I have no sense of style. If I had any sense, it wouldn't have become a death game operator's room in the first place. I desperately scoured YouTube room tours and room features in large furniture store catalogs. But it was no use.I cannot escape the seat of a death game operator.
There were many ideas that seemed easy to implement, like arranging nice greenery in a nice way, or unifying the atmosphere with a Nordic or monotone style. But nothing clicked. They were all truly lovely, but I didn't want to live in them. Based on these, even if I could create a space that looks lovely to others, it's meaningless if I don't enjoy living in it myself.

Besides, it's a field outside my house, so I don't need greenery inside. It's already monotone with white walls, black monitors, and white bookshelves. I like the feel of the room as it is...There is nothing wrong with the atmosphere of my favorite room, other than it being called a 'death game operator's room!' Nothing at all. It seemed the only way was to cover my friend's mouth and pretend it never happened.

At that time, while looking at my Twitter (now X) timeline (← this expression is a tribute to 'Manzai Kajo Kosatsu' by Kuruma Takahira of Reiwa Roman), I learned about this artist through a friend's repost.

https://x.com/shoji_riko
Riko Shoji

Among Shoji-san's paintings, which capture the presence of a story, I fell in love at first sight with a painting called 'Ai Tomoru' (Love Lights Up), to put it bluntly.

As I read the tweet (now post), I saw that she would soon be holding a solo exhibition titled 'The End of Life, the Outline of Prayer.' I really wanted to see it in person, so I checked the location and dates of the exhibition. It's far away! I can't take paid leave! I can't go because of work! It looks like they will be for sale, so if someone else buys them (pardon me), I might not even have a chance to see them!! How frustrating!!!
While shedding tears, I regretfully followed Shoji-san's production account and enjoyed the exhibition updates and other wonderful paintings she posted. Finally, the time for parting came...

“It must be a price that a mere salaryman like me can't afford.”

While giving up, I still regretfully looked at the sales list, and froze at the prices listed there.

…….

……………….

It's a price I can afford!!!!!!!!??

Of course, it's not an amount I can spend lightly. While I understand that it's a reasonable price considering the time and effort it took to create this painting, the cost of art supplies, and the studio expenses, it's not an amount an ordinary salaryman can buy easily.

However, if I try hard, I can buy it.
And even if I buy two, it's under 100,000 yen.

What am I working hard and sweating for every day?It's to use the money I earn on things I love. If a one-of-a-kind piece that I 'wanted to see in person' and 'don't know if there will be another chance' is right in front of me at a price I can afford if I try, then of course, I have to buy it.
That was as far as I could stay calm.

“How to purchase... email the gallery directly!? Oh no, other paintings are starting to sell out! Ugh, of course my computer decides to update right now and Gmail is taking forever to open!!!!!!!!!” While panicking, I sent a purchase request email to the gallery that was full of business-person vibes, starting with 'Nice to meet you' and ending with 'I would be happy if I could have this opportunity.'

What will fate decide?

I was able to buy it.

Welcome to my home!!!!!!!!!!!

Atelier Shin-kuu, within an hour of sending the email expressing my desire to purchase, they put it on hold for me. When I told them this was my first time buying art, they added a message saying, 'I'll let the artist know too!' How should I put it... people... are so warm... I want to visit Atelier Shin-kuu someday.

https://atelier-shin-kuu.jimdosite.com/

Including the series of memories, it became a wonderful purchase.
All that's left is to display it on the shelf near my desk, and I'm done.

…….

A desire was born.


Instead of placing it on a shelf, I wanted to display the art where it would be in my line of sight from any angle when I'm in the room. Besides, looking at the wonderful things that arrived, my workspace didn't feel worthy of these paintings, or rather, as it was, it started to feel like aroom that couldn't shake off that 'certain' impression even if I displayed art in itto me.
It's because I've already recognized this six-tatami room as that 'certain' room. What should I do? I thought about it, anddecided to do a dramatic before-and-after renovation of my new home.
After spending about a month, with some help from others, moving things around to the level of re-moving, here is the result.

There are still a lot of monitors and bookshelves, but since the walls have become wider, a sense of openness has been created.It's a room that gets sunlight, so I can work while shouting, 'Let it be sunny!'All that's left is to hang the art on this lonely-looking white wall, and it's finished... and that's when I realize.I've never hung art on a wall before.I don't know how to do it. Thanks to reading through interior design features, I only knew that Nitori had pins that don't damage walls, but knowing the branches and leaves doesn't help at all. That's right, I also need to pass a string through the back of the art to hang it on the wall... I don't feel like I can do it well... Also, what if the art gets sun-damaged because it's a room with sunlight?I wanted to shout, 'Be cloudy!'

So.

To look for a frame that can prevent sun damage to the art, and also because I can ask them to 'please thread the string,' I went to Sekaido, wherethe art professionals reside.

I forgot to take a picture of the Shinjuku main store of Sekaido.

The main store was divided into a floor for sketching and watercolor frames and a floor for oil painting and acrylics. 'Was the material acrylic? Well, it's a canvas... I'll attack from the top,' I thought, and went to the sixth floor. I read the website beforehand, but since it said 'Please come directly,' I didn't make a reservation. However, while being transported by the escalator, I became anxious.What if I drag the front page and a hidden reservation page appears saying, 'You are the 0000th True Customer of Sekaido,' and I can't be accepted unless I make a reservation there? Feeling very anxious, I headed to the sixth floor.

The floor was empty. There was a waiting paper and pen to write my name, so I called out to the clerk at the counter, 'Should I write my name and wait?' The answer was, 'It's empty now, so I'll take you right away~.' Thank goodness,there was no hidden page!With the momentum of having my anxiety wiped away, I made a troublesome request, even by my own standards: 'Since this is my first time framing, I want to hear about what kind of frames there are in the first place,' but they served me incredibly politely. A god.God resides on the sixth floor of Shinjuku Sekaido.By the way, when I went to pick up the art after framing, it was a different clerk, but that person was also very polite.The god of Sekaido is not the only god.

There are types of framing, such as (1) a style of choosing a frame that fits the size of the art from existing frames, (2) a style of choosing your favorite frame from several frame model patterns and combining them (outer edge and inner edge), and (3) others? I forgot to take notes on this point, so I forgot... Also, I'm sorry if I'm wrong.For those who want to frame, ask the gods of Sekaido for the correct information!

So, naturally, (2) takes time and money. Well, it is custom-made.
I chose (2). There are several reasons. Both of the art pieces are square, but there were no square frames that I thought, 'This is good.' Well, this time I was prepared to order from the beginning, so I just thought, 'Oh, there aren't many square frames, surprisingly.' But people who intend to buy art and frame it from now on might want to pay a little attention to the size of the art. But well, buying what you like is the best, so maybe you don't have to worry about it too much.

Also, it was a big deal that the Sekaido clerk looked at a photo of my room and advised me, 'If it's a room where sunlight enters, you should make it a deep frame and insert a UV-cut acrylic plate in between so that the art will last a long time.' Or rather, this customer service was the deciding factor. They are good at business.

I decided on the frames and went to pay. It was a little over 60,000 yen. I'm not a millionaire, so my wallet is hurting, but I ordered 4 frames, and for this price, I understand. I found the perfect frame for the art, received good customer service, and learned about the depth and fun of framing, so I am satisfied! Ka-ka-ka-ka! (I'm trying to become a millionaire just in my tone of voice)

A few weeks later.
I went to Sekaido again and picked up the framed art.

Look... It's good... It's so, so good.

Thank you to everyone who has read this far. It's almost over, so please read why I chose this frame!

"It's hard to see in the photo, but the white outer edge of the painting on the top left ('Red Fruit and the Final Abode') resembles the texture of the exterior wall of the house in the painting, and I wanted to bring the tactile feel of the house in the painting into reality. I also chose the black outer edge for the painting on the bottom right ('Lighting the Way') because the worn texture felt like it could represent the bark of the trees deep in the painting where the light doesn't reach. And by reversing the colors of the outer and inner edges of both paintings, I created a sense of harmony between the two."

That is all. I am super grateful for you listening to this nerd's rapid-fire talk.And here is the room where I actually hung them.

I will never let anyone call it a death game management room ever again.

That was the initial goal, but over these past few months, the experience of learning about worlds I didn't know through things I've come to love, and the experience of having more things I love, has been so much fun! I'm really glad I hung up the paintings! I'm very satisfied!!

Conclusion

It's been one day since I hung the paintings. I was happy all day, so I wrote this note.
When you look up at the wall in the middle of work or chores and see a beautiful landscape, it's just nice. Just being able to think it's nice makes me glad I hung the paintings.

By the way, even though I've written at length about hanging paintings, I have absolutely no intention of recommending that you 'incorporate art into your life.' You might want to retort, 'You don't?', but I don't.

Just like a coworker once said, 'I do my nails so that when I'm tired from desk work, I can look at my hands and get motivated,' I bought, framed, and hung a painting I fell in love with just to lift my own spirits. It's nothing more than that kind of casual, lighthearted thing.
You should all get things that make you feel good, too. For me, that was Mr. Shoji's art.

Next time someone comes over to hang out, I plan to brag endlessly about the paintings I hung and my tidied-up room. I want to brag so much.Come over soon. If you don't, I'll come catch you myself. A 'viewer' worthy of my room.