Fukagawa North Elementary's 'Shared Dream': Observation Questionnaires Finally Go Home With Students

■ A Promise Kept a Week Early

As previously reported on the 16th, the "shared dream of an unfamiliar cityscape" reported in early October by fourteen fourth-graders in Fukagawa North Elementary's Class 4-1 drew attention after one drawing from an October 9 art class was confirmed on the 13th to match, down to fine detail, an undisclosed observation section of Window 1, "the Lit City." At a parents' briefing on the evening of the 16th, the TDA's Dimensional Survey Division proposed roughly six months of "simplified observation." The division announced on the 25th that it distributed a parent questionnaire through the school as of the 24th. Earlier reports had said the forms would go out "sometime this month" — in the end, they arrived before the month's final week.

■ The Questionnaire: "Just a Record, Nothing More"

According to Technician Toru Yuzuki, 31, previously reported, the questionnaire has two parts: first, whether the family will cooperate with the simplified observation at all; second, for those who do, an explanation of the format for a "dream journal" in which the child voluntarily marks, in a simple way, whether they had the dream each day for the next six months. "We have absolutely no intention of burdening the children," Yuzuki said. "A circle on a day they had the dream, nothing on a day they didn't. There's no requirement to draw anything." As previously reported, additional interviews and drawings from all fourteen children since the 13th have produced no new matches to Window 1's observation record.

■ Homeroom Teacher Mizuki Kondo: "Reactions Are Still to Come"

Homeroom teacher Mizuki Kondo, 34, previously reported, said, "We only just sent the forms out, so parent reactions are still to come. The school keeps reminding families that whichever way they decide, it won't affect their child's school life in any way." A parent, 42, who attended the previously reported briefing on the 16th, told this reporter candidly, "Honestly, I'm still torn. My child isn't scared, so there's a part of me that hesitates at the idea of making them an 'observation subject' without real need." Another parent, 38, offered the opposite view: "We're leaning toward cooperating. I'd rather have some record left behind than end up with nothing at all."

■ "The First Time Children Have Been Asked" — A Careful Line

As previously reported, this marks the first time the Dimensional Survey Division has formally asked ordinary citizens — children, no less — for this kind of cooperation, and in distributing the questionnaire, the division again stressed its stated policy of proceeding "only within the bounds of the school's and parents' consent." Yuzuki said, "The standing view on Window 1 — that there's no evidence the other side recognizes us — doesn't apply to this case. We have no basis to claim the children are 'receiving' anything. Even so, if there's a way to keep a record, we'd like to keep one." The division's earlier position — treating this as a separate matter from the signs reported at Windows 5 and 3 — remains unchanged.

■ Yuzuki: "Recording the Unexplained, Without Pretending to Explain It"

In an interview on the 25th, Yuzuki revealed that even the name "dream journal" wasn't his idea: "I didn't want to give it a grand-sounding name, but the school asked for something easy to call it by, and this is what we landed on." He added, "Honestly, there's no guarantee anything will become clear in six months. It's more likely we'll just end up with more records and nothing else. Even so, recording the unexplained without pretending to explain it is how this beat does its work."

■ No Further Briefing Planned

The division has no plans to hold another parents' briefing for this round and will take questions in writing through the school. Tallying of responses is expected in early November, after which the specific shape of the observation will be adjusted according to how many families agree to take part.

■ A Window Keeper's Thought

One keeper assigned to Window 1, previously reported, told this paper quietly, "I don't know whether what those children are seeing is the same view we watch every night. But if it really is the same thing, then we're no longer the only ones watching that side's mornings." Whatever those fourteen children dreamed, and whether it truly has anything to do with Window 1, no answer will come quickly even once this questionnaire is collected. Still, one more small mechanism for facing the unexplained has been added this month, in the most ordinary of places — a school.