We now come to one of the most famous sections in “Yi Yi,” when NJ takes Mr. Ota, the Japanese game developer, out for a night on Taipei. It begins at a restaurant, where NJ tries to sell the company line — that they liked his proposal, but it was fairly complex, so they will need time to assess it.

Mr. Ota sees through this performance immediately and says to NJ “you are like me — you cannot lie.” I should point out at this point that their discussions are all conducted in English. NJ does not know Japanese and Mr. Ota doesn’t know Mandarin, so English is what they have in common.

From here, Mr. Ota takes a philosophical approach to the business proposal before them. He tells NJ that his company has played it safe recently and has suffered as a result. He wants to try something completely new, because the old formula is failing. But he also understanding that trying something new is risky, so he would understand if their company would like to pass.

But then he launches into a speech that is basically Edward Yang’s core philosophy, supporting the artistic way of life as superior to the business approach to life. He asks why are we so afraid of first times? Each day is something entirely new, we never live the same day twice. And we are not afraid to get out of bed. Why?

The scene shifts to NJ’s car, and a beautiful piece of classical music/opera that Mr. Ota recognized immediately, but I can’t place. Mr. Ota talks about how he grew up very poor and latched onto music, because it showed him how life can be beautiful. NJ then talked about how his dad loved music, but he grew up disliking his father’s taste. But when he first fell in love as a teenager, suddenly his father’s favorite music spoke to him. But unfortunately, he was with a woman who did not like music and the relationship eventually fizzed.

This relationship was the one with Sherry and he goes on to say that he just recently ran into her again, after 30 years. Mr. Ota speculates that this is why NJ is listening to “her music” again, which makes NJ laugh.

NJ then takes Mr. Ota to a karaoke bar, but a very unique form of it — it’s basically a hybrid piano bar/karaoke bar, so the patrons are singing to live accompanied music. It leads to a rather wonderful atmosphere, and soon after arriving, Mr. Ota is showing off his music talent on the piano and also singing. The owner of the bar tells NJ that he needs to bring friends like him by more often, it’s good for business — and business isn’t going so well at the moment.

After the night out, we see NJ return to the office, where he places a call to Sherry in the U.S. The call goes to voice mail, and he’s relieved by this, saying he might have been tongue tied if he had to talk to her at that moment. He tells her that his colleague Da-Da said she is doing very well, and this made him happy. He had heard before that she wasn’t doing as well, and he felt responsible for this.

He raises the question she posed to him, about why he walked away from the relationship. He says that he had several reasons at the time, but they all seem ridiculous now. He closes by hoping they can stay in touch — but it’s impossible to think of the call as something so little. Given the talk he’d just had with Mr. Ota, NJ has built up the courage to strike out on something new.

And what’s about to happen in the next scene will make this new start with Sherry possible.