The sky is boundless, because it's the mirror of my soul
It changes colors everyday, as if it's reflecting my heart
The white smoky haze turns into clouds
Concealing my tears that seem about to overflow
Whenever something I have faith in begins to fall apart
I close my eyes and make a wish
Even on a night when I'm alone and can't fall asleep
I just close my eyes in the darkness
And find myself listening closely for the radiance of the stars
I'll keep running, even barefooted, because I can't give this up
And like the moon in the blue sky,
I want to embrace my transience and reach out my hand
I fall deep into thought at times like this.
About what?
The meaning of the journey and the meaning of life.
That's just like a disease all humans have.
I wonder if the sky will be blue tomorrow?
Her Journey
Tomorrow,
I'm setting out on a journey.
It'll likely be a long journey,
because for her, this is a journey to forget.
I understand why she would go on a journey to forget about her late fiancé,
but why is she taking you as her protector on her journey?
I sent her a letter from jail
saying that I want to spend the rest of my life atoning for my crime.
Then, she came and told me,
"If you truly meant what you said,
I want you to atone for it by protecting me from danger."
I see.
I don't think it means she has forgiven me yet for killing her fiancé.
But she has given me a chance to spend my life atoning for it.
I used to have a dragon in my heart back then.
And I wasn't able to tame it.
Because of that,
I hurt myself and others around me.
Does she have a particular destination?
I don't know how far she'll be going.
I intend to follow her to the ends of the world.
But this is not my journey, it is hers.
And I think of that as the journey of my life.
I need to go.
I have to get ready to leave tomorrow.
Oh, Kino.
May I ask you a question,
since you are my senior when it comes to traveling?
What do you want to know?
What should I be most careful of during a journey?
That's easy.
It's the same as when you're living an ordinary life in your country.
Not to lose your life.
Thanks. Bye.
People certainly have an amazing capacity for change.
He used to be a horrible rogue a long time ago,
but now he's a very humble and kind person.
In this country, those who clean up their acts are forgiven.
In that sense,
he's returned as a man of integrity,
a far cry from what he used to be.
Why?
You used to have a dragon in your heart?
You've got to be kidding!
Did you think you were the only one with a dragon?
I guess she decided to go on the journey to do this.
Because she could kill him as long as it was outside the country.
He had really changed into a good man.
That was what was most unforgivable!
Kino,
you could've stopped me if you wanted to.
Why didn't you?
Because I'm not a god.
That's all.
What are you going to do now?
I'll continue my journey to forget about it.
Oh, yes.
May I ask you a question,
since you are my senior when it comes to traveling?
What should I be most careful of during a journey?
That's easy.
Not to lose your life.
I sometimes get scared
when I get involved with someone during my journey.
Why?
Because I just pass through.
How do you think all the people we've met so far are doing?
I wonder if she's still traveling?
No idea.
Um...
Kino, which woman are you talking about?
Thank you for listening to my story, Kino.
I see.
I understand the purpose of your journey very well.
But I think it's reckless to carry out a journey without any weapons
so you can appeal how meaningless it is to kill with weapons.
Even so, we have been traveling like this for many years now.
You may have just been lucky.
You're right.
I'm sure we've just been lucky.
I felt secure because I had him.
He sympathized with my ideal against violence.
But if we had really encountered bad people,
we would probably have been killed instantly because we had no weapons.
Are you going to keep traveling even knowing that?
Someone needs to preach the ideal!
Even if we cannot make it happen right away,
the little seeds I have sown may sprout
and come close to the ideal.
Even if it is many years after I die.
Why do you push yourself so much?
Because it is my mission,
since my fiancé was killed by a Persuader.
Have you ever hated the killer?
I heard he was also shot to death by someone with a Persuader.
I don't feel I need to hate him anymore.
This is a secret she doesn't know,
but I'm the one who killed the killer.
Because he tried to kill her, fearing that she would seek revenge.
You love her, don't you?
Yeah.
I would fight the whole world for her.
I see.
They were all killed without the chance to fire a single shot.
He must have done it.
He's really good if he can do this without her noticing it at all.
She may kill herself if she realizes the truth.
At this rate,
it looks like her journey will continue for a long time to come.
I hope he won't destroy the whole world, though.
Hermes!
Please move!
I can't. Out of gas...
Hermes! Come on!
Come on!
Hermes...
There's something.
Monster!
Who are you calling a monster?
That was when,
in the forest that we got lost,
we met the old woman, whom I would later call, "Master".
We learned many things from her after that,
but that is another story.
Do you dislike getting involved with other people, Kino?
I don't dislike it, Hermes.
I want to continue my journey because of encounters with other people.
And some of them have taught me very important things.
I really appreciate such encounters.
Listen, Kino.
What you must be most careful of is not to lose your life.
A Tale of Wise Man
Kino,
at this rate, I'll run out of gas
and we won't make it to the next country.
It was my miscalculation
that the last country didn't have any motorrad fuel for sale.
I don't want to be stranded in the rain.
Didn't someone say there's a hermitage up ahead?
Yes.
A wise man lives there, right?
I see it. That must be it.
I heard he isn't obsessed with wealth or power
and freely gives away whatever excess he has.
If we're lucky,
we may get him to share some fuel with us... for free.
I'm a traveler.
Would you allow us to take shelter from the rain?
Please come in.
I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
Not at all.
May I ask you a question?
What is it?
People in a neighboring country told me a wise man lives here.
Are you the wise man?
No, I am his caretaker.
The Great Wise Man is resting downstairs.
Downstairs?
He is sick.
I see.
The truth is, he does not have very long to live.
If he talks to you, it may console him a little.
I shall take you to him.
Please come this way.
I guess it's no time to ask for fuel.
Pardon me, sir.
I have brought a traveler, who came here seeking shelter from the rain.
Pardon me for disturbing you when you are ill.
Oh, no...
This scruffy looking man is the Wise Man?
Hermes!
He is living a life divorced from the desires of the ordinary world.
I see.
Then how did he come to be called a "Wise Man"?
During his wandering journey, he arrived in a country
and was living like a homeless person.
One day,
the king passed by and jokingly said
he would give him any one thing he wanted.
And the Great Wise Man said,
"Please move,
because you're blocking the sunshine."
"There is no better treasure than the sun."
It is said that the king was so touched by those words
that he got down on his knees and said,
"You must be a true wise man."
I'm not such a person.
Not like that.
I need to clean upstairs, so please excuse me.
You were also a traveler?
You said, "I'm not such a person."
What did you mean?
It's not true.
The reason I am called "Wise Man" is because
I am a man with no material greed nor fondness of rank or fame.
But that is not because I found enlightenment
and abandoned my desires as people think.
What do you mean by that?
I never had reason for desire to start with.
Reason for desire?
The country where I was born,
was plagued with deadly and insidious crimes.
There are countries like that everywhere.
Perhaps that is human instinct,
but that isn't an acceptable excuse for the country's leaders.
It appears they were trying to come up with some kind of solution.
And how is this related to you?
I do not have a clear recollection of that time period.
But I do remember I was in jail for committing some kind of crime.
I was chosen as a test subject
for a brain procedure that they had just developed.
It was a procedure to erase self-consciousness.
Erase self-consciousness?
What is the root of all desire that leads to crimes
apart from physical desires?
Their answer was "self-consciousness".
Everybody has a monster called "self-consciousness" in them.
If you kill someone, you will feel that you are stronger.
Or you want to kill people who insulted you.
You have these feelings because of too much "self-consciousness".
Then they should erase the self-consciousness.
That's what they thought.
After repeated experiments,
my brain developed antibodies against my self-consciousness.
But it was not in the way they wanted.
What they wanted was a human who had no self-consciousness,
but still retained the will to work hard.
But I had lost my motivation to work at the same time.
If all people became like me, the country would fall to ruin.
I was banished from the country as a failure.
Failure?
I still had the very basic desires like the need for food and sleep,
so I did just enough to satisfy these areas.
One day,
a hypnotist passing by heard my story
and said this to me.
I know how to restore you to the way you were before.
Listen carefully to what I am about to say.
You have forgotten what I just said.
If you are ever able to recall it,
you will be restored to the person you were before.
I wrote it down on this piece of paper.
If you ever feel like it, chase after it.
I'll give you one hint.
The words are the only true words in the world.
Think well upon it.
I didn't even feel the desire to be restored to my old self.
It was just that my feet carried me in the direction the bottle had gone.
As I wandered through many countries,
people started revering me as "Wise Man"
because I lived a simple life without wishing for anything in return.
There is just one thing I am thankful for.
Only a few days ago,
the doctor who came told me of my impending death,
but I felt no fear or sorrow upon hearing that.
The doctor said, "You truly are a wise man," and went home.
But I wonder what those words were?
The only true words in the world, huh?
Hey, don't you think it's similar to that "real blue sky" thing?
Real blue sky?
Yes.
Say, Kino,
have you ever seen the "real blue sky?"
What?
Before my grandfather died, he said,
"It doesn't matter if you find real blue sky or not."
I asked him,
"What are you talking about?"
But he died smiling.
And that's the "real blue sky"?
Yeah.
Ever since, I've been wondering vaguely on and off
what the "real blue sky" is.
What would you answer to that?
Let me think.
I would say,
"There is no such thing."
Why?
How blue the sky is often changes
depending on the place, time, season, and weather.
And every one of them was beautiful.
I can't tell you which one is the real blue sky among the skies I've seen.
There is no such thing.
That's what I think.
I'm not sure if that's the right answer or not,
but I'm glad that I asked you. Yeah.
There is no such thing.
No such thing...
That's it. That was it!
He tricked me. He tricked me!
There was no way he could have known how to restore me.
That's why he said,
"There is no such thing."
But how ironic.
As soon as I realized that, I can't stop my feelings!
Are you all right?
Great Wise Man!
I felt none of this yesterday...
I had nothing to do with such pain or sadness.
What was my life for?
What did I live for?
The Great Wise Man seems to have calmed down.
Thank you for everything.
Same to you.
May I ask you a question?
What is it?
Why didn't you kill him at that time?
So, you had noticed.
With the smell of a Hand Persuader and the menacing aura...
I see.
I am from the country where he was born.
Even after the experiment on him had failed,
they continued to conduct research in our country.
And at last,
they succeeded in making humans with no self-consciousness and no desires,
but still with the capability to do a simple job.
And you're it?
Yes.
My job is to keep an eye on him, the failure,
to make sure he does not go back to the way he used to be.
And if he does, I was told to kill him.
I see.
Then why didn't you shoot him?
I do not know.
But he does not have long to live anyway.
All I can say for now is that I no longer have a job.
What are you going to do from now on?
I do not know.
I may go on a journey.
Then maybe...
...I will be called a "Wise Man," too.
Your journey isn't all that different from that Wise Man's.
Do you think so?
No purpose or plan.
You may be right.
But there's one aspect that's decisively different from theirs.
What?
I'm trying to live my life consciously.
It has begun to rain in a far off place
And in it, someone shivers softly as they get wet
Losing myself in the forest, I nestle up to the sky
Visiting countries, coming and going among people
And the journey will never end
So the beautiful world...
Where did I come from? How far will I go?
So the beautiful world...
I travel the world, going where the currents take me
Kino's Journey
A Peaceful Land
What do you think is beautiful?
The crimson skies,
the endless expanse of Earth,
flocks of birds...
Animals playing by the waterfront.
Hardworking machines.
And... humans.
Humans as well? Really?
Yes. I think they're beautiful.
Probably as beautiful as the world.