Climbing the slope of Narazaka leads to Hannya-ji, a temple long known as the "Cosmos Temple." Every autumn, its grounds are covered in a sea of cosmos flowers, and every visitor catches their breath at the sight.

But look closely at a single bloom, and it is nothing extraordinary — just one small flower on a slender stem, the plainest of sights.

Only when thousands upon thousands of these small blooms gather together does that sweeping view come into being. No single flower takes a shortcut to bloom bigger or sooner than the rest. It is simply the same small act, repeated again and again, that quietly builds into something overwhelming.