"First, survive two years. If you do, the possibility of living much longer becomes far higher." Those words from my doctor encouraged me. As I approached the second year, I underwent tests and reviewed treatment. In the end, we decided to continue the current chemotherapy treatment. CT images over the past year showed almost no change in the lymph nodes, but PET images confirmed cancer cells. Tumor markers go up and down a little but are not high. In other words, I am living with a bomb inside me, and I hope it remains unexploded for a long time.

Daily life is almost the same as last year. I have completed twenty-five four-week cycles of anticancer treatment. The low and very low periods remain predictable, and I plan trips and events in the normal period. The one noticeable change is how sleepy I have become. Some days I sleep more than twelve hours. My face has become a little fuller after gaining three kilograms, and people at work often say I look healthy. That is not bad.

As an aside, 2015 made the architecture industry unusually visible because of the new National Stadium. I will mention only Mr. Ando. He too had pancreatic cancer and underwent major pancreatic surgery in early 2014. It is unreasonable to expect him to behave and speak like a healthy person. Missing meetings, being unable to leave bed, and being able to do nothing but think are entirely possible. I hope his condition has not worsened.

If I had to sum up this year in a single character, it would be “monkey.” In December 2014 I became interested in National Geographic's photo submission site. The trigger was a photograph of monkeys at Jigokudani in Shinshu, and one image was selected as Photo of the Day. From there I fell deeplydown the rabbit hole of photography: planning photo trips, learning development, and seeing the world differently through subjects and framing.

The introduction page for National Geographic Web site theme "Eye Spy" on September 17, 2015.

Six months later, National Geographic featured me again. A three-photo set submitted for the theme "Eye Spy" was chosen as an Editor's Favorite. This photograph too was a monkey. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey, my own zodiac year. Preparations were complete.

Since 2000, weekends at the foot of Mt. Fuji had been part of my life. But when my condition was low, I could no longer drive, and in the year after surgery I went only two or three times. It was time to reconsider that life.

A new owner appeared who loved the house and said he would inherit the owner's commitment. It felt like the best possible handover. The mountain cottage was a deeply personal project filled with fifteen years of memories, from concept and planning to construction management, and I decided to write about it on another page.

Night view of the mountain cottage.

After the aurora trip, my wife and I went to Shosenkyo, Iya Valley, Jigokudani, Iwayu, Utsukushigahara, Urabandai, Izumo, Tateyama Kurobe, and Finland. Adding two solo trips to Kumamoto makes eleven trips. The style changed toward photography-centered travel: more activity, less emphasis on inns, food, and hot springs.

Now that we have let go of the hideaway, opportunities for such trips will probably increase.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route.

My attending physician told me, "I guarantee your survival until your sixtieth birthday." He may say, "There you go again," but these days I am dreaming of many things. I will report on them another time.

See you again.