Part One Quotes

October 1948 (pp 2-86)

Even if it did not occupy such a commanding position on the hill, the house would still stand out from all others nearby, so that as you come up the path, you may find yourself wondering what sort of wealthy man owns it. (Ono) Page 2

It was an eccentric procedure, but I saw nothing objectionable about it; it was, after all, much the same as being involved in a marriage negotiation. (Ono, about the Sugimura daughters’ auction of prestige process for the house) Page 2

‘Setsuko probably has no idea of what you’re like these days, Father. She only remembers you from when you were a tyrant and ordered us all around. You’re much more gentle these days, isn’t that so?’ (Noriko, to Setsuko and Ono) Page 8

‘The point is, Noriko began to talk about the marriage negotiations in front of him [Mr Mori]. She took much the same attitude as just now, that everything was settled. It was most embarrassing. Mr Mori even congratulated me as he was leaving, and asked me the groom’s occupation.’ (Ono to Setsuko, on Noriko’s forwardness) Page 11

Even as a child, Setsuko had rather masculine features, … , Noriko was always able to get the better of her elder sister by calling her ‘Boy! Boy!’. Who knows what effect such things have on personalities? It is no coincidence, surely, that Noriko should have grown up so headstrong, and Setsuko so shy and retiring. (Ono) Page 12

‘Our Setsuko will flower in the summer’ she had often said. (Ono, on his late wife’s comments coming true about their daughter’s physical appearance) Page 12

‘He seems convinced I know some secret and that we’re all keeping it from him. I have to continually reassure him that I have no idea myself.’ (Setsuko to Ono, on Suichi’s persistent questioning of her about a family secret he thinks underpinned the failure of Noriko’s marriage talks) Page 13

Indeed, I have never at any point in my life been very aware of my own social standing, and even now, I am often surprised afresh when some event, or something someone may say, reminds me of the rather high esteem in which I am held. (Ono) Pages 13-14

There is something reassuring about going into Mrs Kawakami’s and finding Shintaro sitting up there at the bar, just as one may have found him on any evening for the past seventeen or so years, absent-mindedly turning his cap round and round on the counter in that old way of his. (Ono) Page 16

Sometimes he will even ask me questions relating to technique or style with all the eagerness of a young apprentice – though the truth is, of course, Shintaro has long ceased to be concerned with any real art. For some years now, he has devoted his time to his book illustrations, and his present specialty, I gather, is fire engines. (Ono) Page 16

But I suppose in the evenings, after a few drinks, Shintaro likes to believe he is still the idealistic young artist I first took under my supervision. (Ono) Page 17

As for Mrs Kawakami, although she will do her best not to allow the current mood to affect her, there is no denying she has been greatly aged by the war years. (Ono) Page 18

‘Indeed, as the instance he has just related amply illustrates, his reputation has now spread beyond the world of art, to all walks of life. But how typical of Sensei’s modest nature that he is unaware of this.’ (Kuroda to the group at Migi-Hidari) Page 19

‘But I personally have no doubt. His reputation will become all the greater, and in years to come, our proudest honour will be to tell others that we were once the pupils of Masuji Ono.’ (Kuroda to the group at Migi-Hidari) Page 20

…And if on reaching the foot of the hill which climbs up to my house, you pause at the Bridge of Hesitation and look back towards the remains of our old pleasure district, … you may see the line of old telegraph poles … and be able to make out the dark clusters of birds perched uncomfortably on the tops of the poles, as though awaiting the wires along which they once lined the sky… (Ono) Page 22

‘Noriko was always so good with children,’ Setsuko remarked. … ‘Ichiro’s taken a great liking to her.’ (Setsuko to Ono) Page 29

‘Ichiro’s a fine boy,’ I said. ‘Not at all shy like a lot of children that age.’
‘I hope he wasn’t giving you trouble just now. He can be quite headstrong at times. Please don’t hesitate to scold him if he becomes a nuisance.’ (Ono and Setsuko) Page 29

‘Does he make up his own words? I was trying to listen, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.’
‘He must have been playing cowboys. When he plays cowboys, he tries to speak English.’
‘English? Extraordinary. So that’s what it was.’ (Ono and Setsuko, on Ichiro) Page 29

‘Suichi believes it’s better he likes cowboys than that he idolise people like Miyamoto Musashi [ronin: samurai for hire]. Suichi thinks the American heroes are the better models for children now.’ (Setsuko to Ono) Page 29-30

‘He’s so arrogant. Pulling people back and forth. Such bad manners.’ (Setsuko about Ichiro, seeing him pulling on his aunt’s arm) Page 30

‘On account of what he must have suffered out in Manchuria, I have in the past tried to adopt a tolerant attitude towards certain aspects of his behaviour; I have not taken personally, for instance, the frequent signs of bitterness he has displayed towards my generation.’ (Ono, about Suichi) Page 43

‘Really, Noriko, you shouldn’t be so indiscreet.’ (Ono) Page 44

‘But these are the men who led the country astray, sir. Surely, it’s only right they should acknowledge their responsibility. It’s a cowardice that these men refuse to admit to their mistakes. And when those mistakes were made on behalf of the whole country, why then it must be the greatest cowardice of all.’ (Jiro Miyake to Ono, on war criminals) Page 48

‘There seems to be no end of courageous deaths,’ he said, eventually. ‘Half of my high school graduation year have died courageous deaths. They were all for stupid causes, though they were never to know that.’ (Suichi to Ono, at Kenji’s funeral) Page 50

‘Those who sent the likes of Kenji out there to die these brave deaths, where are they today? …Many are more successful than before, behaving so well in front of the Americans, the very ones who led us to disaster. …This is what makes me angry. Brave young men die for stupid causes, and the real culprits are still with us. Afraid …to admit their responsibility.’ (Suichi to Ono, at Kenji’s funeral) Page 50-51

‘Being at Takeda’s’, I told them, ‘taught me an important lesson early in my life. That while it was right to look up to teachers, it was always important to question their authority. The Takeda experience taught me never to follow the crowd blindly, but to consider carefully the direction in which I was being pushed.’ (Ono to his pupils at the Migi-Hidari) Page 66

‘How sad to see her reach this age and still unmarried.’
‘Indeed. The war came at a bad time for her.’ (Setsuko to Ono, about Noriko) Page 76

‘But, Ono, there are things we should both be proud of. Never mind what people today are all saying. Before long, a few more years, and the likes of us will be able to hold our heads high about what we tried to do. I simply hope I live as long as that.’ (Chishu Matsuda, to Ono about their role in the war) Page 85

Part Two Quotes

April 1949 (pp 86-114)

… the little wooden bridge still known to some who lived here before the war as ‘the Bridge of Hesitation’. We called it that because until not so long ago, crossing it would have taken you into our pleasure district, and conscience-troubled men – so it was said – were to be seen hovering there, caught between seeking an evening’s entertainment and returning home to their wives. (Ono) Pages 86-87

‘Shintaro,’ I said, ‘why don’t you simply face up to the past? You gained much credit at the time for your poster campaign. Much credit and much praise. The world may now have a different opinion of your work, but there’s no need to lie about yourself.’ (Ono) Page 91

‘That’s what comes of Father having so much time on his hands. He ends us meddling where it’s not required.’ (Noriko about her father) Page 94

‘Your mother was rather like you, Noriko. She had no bones about saying whatever came into her head.’ (Ono) Page 95

‘Mr Kuroda is always telling me,’ he said, ‘I should try and paint in a style more distinctly my own. But I find so much to admire in Mr Kuroda’s ways, I can hardly help mimicking him.’ (Enchi, Kuroda’s protégé to Ono) Page 98

‘We all know now who the real traitors were. And many of them are still walking free.’ (Kuroda’s protégé Enchi to Ono) Page 101

‘I never claimed all this fighting was a good thing. …Of course, one doesn’t want to see people hurt. But the underlying spirit – that people feel the need to express their views openly and strongly- now that’s a healthy thing, don’t you think so, Mr Ono?’ (Dr Saito to Ono) Page 107

When amongst family, or in the company of close friends, Noriko is in the habit of adopting her somewhat flippant manner of address, and often achieves a wit and eloquence of sorts; but in more formal settings, I have often known her to have difficulty finding an appropriate tone, thus giving the impression she is a timid young woman. (Ono) Page 106

… it seemed to me clear – and Mrs Saito’s own high profile appeared to confirm this – the Saitos were not the old-fashioned sort of family who preferred their female members to be silent and demure. (Ono) Page 106

‘Democracy is a fine thing, but it doesn’t mean citizens have a right to run riot whenever they disagree with something. In this respect, we Japanese have been shown to be like children. We’ve yet to learn how to handle the responsibility of democracy.’ (Taro) Page 107

‘… I must say I find it hard to understand how any man who values his self-respect would wish for long to avoid responsibility for his past deeds; it may not always be an easy thing, but there is certainly a satisfaction and dignity to be gained in coming to terms with the mistakes one has made in the course of one’s life.’ (Ono) Page 111

Part Three Quotes

November 1949 (pp 114-174)

For indeed, a man who aspires to rise above the mediocre, to be something more than ordinary, surely deserves admiration, even if in the end he fails and loses a fortune on account of his ambitions. (Ono) Page 117

If one has failed only where others have not had the courage or will to try, there is a consolation – indeed, a deep satisfaction- to be gained from this observation when looking back over one’s life. (Ono) Page 117

‘The finest, most fragile beauty an artist can hope to capture drifts within those pleasure houses after dark … But as for those pictures up there, they don’t even hint at these transitory, illusory qualities.’ (Mori-san) Page 133

‘I suspect the reason I couldn’t celebrate the floating world was that I couldn’t bring myself to believe in its worth. …to spend one’s skills celebrating things so intangible and transient, I suppose I thought it all rather wasteful, all rather decadent. It’s hard to appreciate the beauty of a world when one doubts its very validity.’ (Mori-san) Page 133

‘When I am an old man, when I look back over my life and see I have devoted it to the task of capturing the unique beauty of that world. I believe I will be well satisfied and no man will make me believe I’ve wasted my time.’ It is possible …that Mori-san did not use those exact words …such phrases sound rather more like the sort of thing I myself would declare … (Ono) Page 133

‘… When he [Ono’s late son, Kenji] was your age, he was as big and strong as you are now. I remember he had his first taste of sake at around your age. I’ll see to it, Ichiro, you get a small taste tonight.’
Ichiro seemed to consider this for a moment. Then he said: ‘Mother might be trouble.’ (Ono and Ichiro) Page 136

‘… after the war, Mr Naguchi thought his songs had been … a mistake. He thought of all the people who had been killed,… … he wanted to say sorry. I think that’s why he killed himself. He was brave to admit the mistakes he’d made. He was very brave and honourable.’ (Ono to Ichiro) Pages 137-138

‘Your eyes are indeed far from open, Ono, if you believe a little good-hearted charity can help the poor of our country. The truth is, Japan is headed for crisis. We are in the hands of greedy businessmen and weak politicians. Such people will see to it poverty grows every day. Unless, that is, we the emerging generation, take action.’ (Matsuda to Ono) Page 154

‘But I’m no political agitator, Ono. My concern is with art. And with artists like you. Talented young artists, not yet irreversibly blinkered by that enclosed little world you all inhabit. The Okada-Shingen [Society] exists to help the likes of you open your eyes and produce work of genuine value for these difficult times.’ (Matsuda to Ono) Page 154

All he would have recognised was that it represented a blatant disregard for Mori-san’s priorities; abandoned had been the school’s collective endeavour to capture the fragile lantern light of the pleasure world; bold calligraphy and been introduced to complement the visual impact … (Ono, on the Tortoise’s appraisal of his ‘Complacency’ painting) Page 156

Of course, he may well not have used that precise phrase, ‘exploring curious avenues’. For it occurs to me that expression was one I myself tended to use frequently in later years and it may well be that I am remembering my own words to Kuroda on that later occasion in that same pavilion. (Ono) Page 159

‘Sensei, it is my belief that in such troubled times as these, artists must learn to value something more tangible than those pleasurable things that disappear with the morning light. It is not necessary that artists always occupy a decadent and enclosed world. My conscience, Sensei, tells me I cannot remain forever an artist of the floating world.’ (Ono’s last conversation with Mori-san) Page 161

‘I had no idea,’ I said, ‘something like this would happen. I merely suggested to the committee someone come round and give Mr Kuroda a talking-to for his own good.’ I stared again at the smouldering pile in the middle of the yard. ‘It was quite unnecessary to burn those. There were many fine works amongst them.’ (Ono and the police officer on the burning of Kuroda’s paintings) Page 164

‘…We feel very optimistic about the future. Within the next ten years, provided we all do our best, KNC should be a name recognised not just all over Japan but all over the world … ‘ (Taro, about this firm) Page 166

‘In fact, Father, just the other week I attended a reunion dinner of my school graduation year and for the first time since the surrender, all those present from every walk of life were expressing optimism for the future.’ (Taro) Page 167

‘Father painted some splendid pictures, and was no doubt most influential amongst other such painters. But Father’s work had hardly to do with these larger matters of which we are speaking. Father was simply a painter. He must stop believing he has done some great wrong.’ (Setsuko to Ono) Page 173

Part Four Quotes

June 1950 (pp 175-184)

‘The smell of burning still makes me uneasy’, I remarked. ‘It’s not so long ago it meant bombings and fire.’ I went on gazing out to the garden for a moment, then added: ‘Next month, it will be five years already since Michiko died.’ (Ono to Matsuda) Page 178

‘These days, a smell of burning usually means a neighbour is clearing his garden.’ (Matsuda, to Ono) Page 178

The likes of the Tortoise – the likes of Shintaro – they may plod on, competent and inoffensive, but their kind … do not know what it is to risk everything in the endeavour to rise above the mediocre. (Ono) Page 182

Although he and I often quarrelled, our approaches to life were identical, and I am confident he would have been able to look back on one or two such moments. Indeed, I am sure he was thinking along these lines when he said to me that last time we spoke, a gentle smile on his face: ‘We at least acted on what we believed and did our utmost.’ (Ono, on Matsuda) Page 182

One can only wish these young people well. (Ono, on the next generation) Page 184