During last year’s ceremony in Taiji,

Emma from YURAI shared a beautiful intention:
not only to honor the lives of dolphins and whales,
but also to celebrate the ancient memories

and wisdom of Japan’s Ocean Tribes.

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Alongside the small boats representing the lives of

more than 500 dolphins lost in the drive hunts,
she wove a larger vessel dedicated to the people

who once lived in sacred connection with the sea.

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This year’s ceremony unfolded with

the prayers and music of

Hiroki Okano and Akira Ikeda.

 

It felt as though the consciousness of

the Ocean Tribes was breathing together with

the spirits of dolphins and whales, dancing above the bay.

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For a moment, I felt as if I had moved beyond time and space,
as though I had teleported to another era.
Looking at all of us gathered there,
I felt we were one tribe — one community.

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Perhaps in another lifetime, long ago,
we stood on these shores offering gratitude and prayers
to the dolphins and whales — our ocean soul family,
beings like our ancestors.

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This ceremony brought together many generations.

 

The elder-like presence of Okano-san,
the innocent spirits of

my 8-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son,
and everyone standing there so naturally —
it was a scene filled with beauty and hope.

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Last year, there was a feeling of hiding, as if we were

carrying out the ceremony quietly, half concealed.

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But this year, from the moment we arrived at the bay,
the clear and powerful sounds of

Akira’s conch shell and Okano-san’s bone flute
resonated across the water, and the prayer began.

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It felt as though we were announcing to everyone,
“It is beginning!”

As if a clear sign had been given:
this is no longer something to do in hiding.

I felt moved — and for a moment, a little shaken.

 

But as I watched the sun rise, a deep certainty filled me,
and my body softened.

This is a natural movement.

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A new vision arose for the first time:

Next year, more children and families will be there —
moving beyond spaces of protest and opposition,
toward a place where many people gather
to turn their hearts toward

the Mother Ocean and the many lives of the sea.

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A place where we begin to paint the future we wish to see,
the planet we hope for.

Seven Generations.
What kind of ocean — what kind of Earth —
do we wish to leave for the generations to come?

 

From now on, what kind of relationship
do we want to build with the sea and the land?

 

A time of prayer and blessing
to hold these questions in the heart.

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Each year, until the drive hunts come to an end,
I wish to continue this ceremony
as a way of planting seeds of change.

 

Hiroki Okano, Akira —
thank you for such a beautiful ceremony.

Sae Katsuta, thank you from my heart for your support.

 

Yuki Kobayashi,
thank you for expressing through your beautiful art
the return of dolphins’ souls into the light.

 

Michiko Kamesaki,
Hikari no Mai TOMO, Koyumi Yamaguchi —
thank you for co-creating this sacred space together.

 

Kawamura Takuma,
traveling again this year with

the bamboo boat was such a strength.

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To everyone who wove the boats of light —
Yoneko Obayashi, Mika Miya, Junko Yamanaka,
Yumiko Hori, Reena Hara, Chika Shimizu,
Mariko Akiyoshi, Emiko Tamai, and all others…
thank you for co-creating this ceremony.

 

I look forward to next year, and the year after.

Matt Vachon, thank you, as always, for the beautiful films.