🇯🇵 Japanese Title:
始まりの場所へ
Hajimari no Basho e
Return to Where It Began
🎯 Theme:
Hana and Yuki follow the final journal entry back to the hill where they first met Aika. Time feels different now — heavier, but calmer.
There’s a small stone box buried under the tree. Inside: a photo of three girls—Aika and her childhood friends—and a sealed letter addressed “To the ones who followed the stars.”
It thanks them… and tells them that some journeys continue, even if the traveler is no longer walking.
📍 Setting:
- Quiet hilltop meadow with a single tree
- Cloudy skies with the sun breaking through
- A small stone marker near the base of the tree
- Photo from years ago, gently faded with time
📚 Vocabulary
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 手紙 | てがみ | letter |
| 記念 | きねん | memento, memory |
| 約束の場所 | やくそくのばしょ | promised place |
| 埋める | うめる | to bury |
| 過去 | かこ | the past |
🗣️ Useful Phrases
| Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ここから始まったんだ。 | It all started here. |
| 手紙…私たち宛て？ | This letter… is for us? |
| 写真の中の彼女、笑ってる。 | She’s smiling in the photo. |
| この景色、あの時と同じだね。 | This view… it’s the same as back then. |
💡 Grammar Focus
| Grammar Point | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 〜たばかり | just did something | 手紙を読んだばかりです。 (We just read the letter.) |
| 〜ようだ | seems like | 空が泣いてるようだね。 (The sky seems to be crying.) |
| 〜ても | even if / although | 写真が古くても、心は変わらない。 (Even if the photo’s old, the feeling is the same.) |
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🎥 Dialogue
Yuki (holding the photo):
「これ…彼女の子ども時代？」
(This… is her as a child?)
Hana (touching the tree bark):
「ずっとここで待ってたんだね。」
(It’s been waiting here all along.)
🧭 Final Note:
Inside the sealed letter:
「星に導かれた君たちへ。ありがとう。続けて、見上げていて。」
(To you, guided by the stars—thank you. Keep looking up.)