As the Fuka project continued to grow, I slowly began to realize that certain themes kept returning to my mind. One of them was the fox.

In Japanese folklore, foxes have a special place. They can be mysterious, playful, wise, or even supernatural. During the earliest stages of the project, small references to foxes occasionally appeared in images and ideas, but they were little more than hints. At the time, I had not yet decided what role they would play in the story.

Eventually, however, I understood that the theme of the kitsune was something I wanted to explore.

The first significant encounter between Fuka and a fox became an important moment, not only within the narrative but also in my understanding of the project itself. Looking back, it feels like one of the first signs that the story wanted to move beyond simple everyday scenes and toward something deeper and more mysterious. At the time, neither the plot nor the mythology behind the project had been fully developed. Yet that encounter created questions, emotions, and possibilities that would influence future stories.

It also led to something else.

Fuka’s concern following the encounter gave me an opportunity to create one of the first genuinely warm moments between her and Tetsuya. Until then, his presence in the project was still relatively new, but this small interaction helped establish a connection between the two characters.

Originally posted on Instagram → [view post]

The scene itself was simple, but it showed how even a small narrative event could serve multiple purposes: introducing a new theme, developing a character, and strengthening a relationship.

Sometimes an important creative realization does not arrive as a grand revelation.

Sometimes it arrives quietly, in the shape of a fox crossing the path of a young photographer.