Part One

October 1948 (pp 2-86)

Part One commences with the reader oriented to the time period, October 1948. Masuji Oni describes the approach to his home from the ‘Bridge of Hesitation’ (p 2); the bridge is both a literal bridge Ono crosses to get home but also symbolic of the many crossings he will make.

Ono provides a vivid description of his unique and imposing home, taking great pride in the fact it was previously owned by Akira Sugimura, who ‘was unquestionably amongst the city’s most respected and influential men’ (p 2). Of greater significance to Ono was that he acquired the house not through being a wealthy man, which he assures the reader he is not, but due to having been handpicked throughout an eccentric ‘auction of prestige’ (p 2) process by Sugimura’s daughters, who wanted to ensure their father’s home ‘should pass to one he would have approved of and deemed worthy of it’ (p 3). Ono regards the notion of someone of Sugimura’s stature being acquainted with and appreciating his art as confirmation of his having achieved a degree of success as an artist.

As part of the negotiations on the house, the Sugimuras make investigations into Ono and his wife Michiko’s reputation which Michiko finds insulting but which Ono reminds her is ‘no more than they would if we were negotiating a marriage with them …’ (p 5); Japanese custom of the day was that suitable marriage matches were made only after an extensive selection process. The investigation proves favourable and Ono beats out four other families to acquire the house.

Ono indirectly references the deaths of his wife and son Kenji through retelling of a visit by the youngest Sugimura daughter who wanted to view the damage to the house; Japan’s surrender which marked the end World War II having caused significant bomb damage to the house. Ono assures a distraught Miss Sugimura that he will restore the house to its former glory, a task which ultimately proves difficult when postwar supply shortages force Ono to be pragmatic and concentrate his repair efforts on the main house, the only part of the house now occupied given it was only Ono and his daughter Noriko. Ono’s positive assessment of his repair work thus far speaks to his belief he still holds the power and prominence he had during the war.

Ono recalls a visit from his married daughter Setsuko and his grandson Ichiro during which Noriko shared her relief at her sister’s arrival so Setsuko may ‘take Father off my hands a little’ (p 8), because now he’s retired ‘he starts to mope’ (p 8) though, on the other hand, there was ‘… no need to be afraid of him anymore. He’s much more gentle and domesticated’ (p 8), even cooking meals occasionally. This is the first third-person perspective the reader receives in order to test Ono’s narration of his life, and that Noriko is outspoken on the tense topic for some time despite her father’s making light of it speaks to the credibility that her father’s behaviour has changed since the war. The more reserved Setsuko is made uneasy by the conversation, attempting several times to change the conversation, seeming to welcome as a distraction the cheeky behaviour of her son. Ono attempts to engage Ichiro in ‘men’s things’ (p 9) but when he goes to his grandfather he is only interested in talking about a movie poster he has seen about a prehistoric animal, becoming indignant at his grandfather’s suggestion that seeing the movie may scare Ichiro, for which his mother scolds his bad manners.

When they are alone, Setsuko talks discreetly with her father, not for the first time, about Noriko’s current marriage negotiations. Noriko has been outspokenly positive on the topic, despite talks being only in the early stages, and Setsuko recalls the previous marriage talks in which the groom’s family withdrew at the last minute, and how this must have been upsetting for Noriko. At 26, Noriko is slightly passed the usual marriage age so it is a pressing concern that a match be made. Setsuko questions whether her father knows why the family withdrew, causing her father irritation when she shares that her husband, Suichi, thinks the family knows why but is keeping it a secret from him. Ono responds coldly that he would share the reason if he knew then digresses into his own analysis on the withdrawal, that the groom’s family had been of a lower social status thus the groom may have been uncomfortable marrying above his station. In doing so, Ono withholds further exploration of family history that could resolve any conflict the reader may have in this regard, contrasting the openness he expressed in the Sugimura investigation about his reputation regarding the house purchase.

Ono further digresses on the issue of social status and that he is often surprised by the amount of esteem he receives. He recalls one such occasion when on a recent visit to Mrs Kawakami’s bar during a conversation with his ex-pupil Shintaro, who still refers to Ono as ‘Sensei’ (teacher), Shintaro’s articulation of Ono’s social influence reminds Ono of an occasion in 1935 or 1936 when Ono worked in the state department and had written a recommendation for Shintaro’s brother to an employment position for which he was subsequently accepted. Shintaro’s praise prompts Ono to consider that even though he is retired, he could still command the influence he used to. It is possible that Ono may be honestly underestimating his pre-war influence, which would demonstrate a degree of modesty, but his nostalgic reflections on drinking with Shintaro at Mrs Kawakami’s over the past seventeen years hints at his enjoyment of Shintaro’s flattery, suggesting he could be downplaying his assessment of his pre-war reputation in order to moderate his diminished reputation postwar.

Aged by the war, Mrs Karakami has operated her bar in the ‘pleasure district’ for the past seventeen years, and Ono recalls how in the old days there were plenty of establishments to cater to the crowds but that since the war, Mrs Karakami’s was one of only a few that remains, albeit war damaged. Compared to the real pleasure districts in the city, where one could find geisha houses and theatres, Ono preferred the artist and writer’s scene at the Migi-Hidari, a bar located in his pleasure district whose prominence Ono helped bring about. He recalls the group who regularly met there, consisting of elite and upcoming artists many of which were Ono’s pupils, and how they would drink at the same table while having passionate discussions. Ono recalls the praise he would often receive from his students, especially after they’d had a few drinks, and highlights one such occasion when Ono shared to the group his surprise at being influential in the matter of Shintaro’s brother gaining employment, ‘a mere white collar appointment’ (p 19), to which his student Kuroda laughed, as though trivialising Ono’s influence, before following up with a re-affirmation of Ono’s stature. The inclusion of this detail verbatim appears to be self-validating for Ono, and also indicates his recall can be precise.

Ono describes how in the present day his pleasure district has been reduced to ‘a desert of demolished rubble’ (p 21), unrecognisable since before the war. Only the atmosphere within Mrs Kawakami’s place is unchanged; buildings along the opposite side of the street where the Migi-Hidari once stood have been razed, adjacent buildings on Mrs Kawakami’s side of the road, mostly unoccupied; she ‘had to live in the midst of a graveyard’ (p 21). While the damage is attributable to the war, large-scale postwar changes being implemented by the authorities were also changing the landscape. Looking towards the pleasure district, from the Bridge of Hesitation which separates it from Ono’s home, Ono describes the melancholy he feels.

Returning to Setsuko’s visit the previous month, Ono recounts finding Ichiro playacting as a man on horseback, the Lone Ranger. Ono suggests to Ichiro that it would be more interesting to impersonate a Japanese hero, such as a ninja or samurai, a suggestion Ichiro ignores. Ono then remembers that things have changed and that the younger generation are now more influenced by the American culture.

Ichiro has made some sketches and when Ono picks them up to have a look, his grandson becomes upset and rather angrily asks for them back. Trying to engage with his grandson over the art, Ono says he can help him do better. Ichiro shows interest and asks his grandfather if he used to be a famous painter but had to retire ‘because Japan lost the war’ (p 26), a hint towards the nationalist nature of Ono’s art, and something which Ono assumes Ichiro probably heard from his parents. Ono does not address this, stating he retired due to his age and needing a rest and, when Ichiro says he’d like to see some of his grandfather’s art, diverts Ichiro’s attention towards drawing the prehistoric monster he had seen in the movie poster. Ichiro puts a lot of effort into his drawing so that Ono offers to take him to see the movie the following day, perhaps in an effort to continue their bonding over the topic. Ono becomes preoccupied for a time with what he says is ‘nothing in particular as I am increasingly prone to do these days’ (p 28), suggestive of age-related memory lapse or perhaps the suppression of concerns arising from the conversation Ono just had with Ichiro.

Ono finds Setsuko on the veranda and talks to her about Ichiro’s playacting as the Lone Ranger. When Ono explains he could not understand the words Ichiro had been speaking, Setsuko tells him it was English and that Ichiro had learned it from a film she and his father had taken him to watch. When Ono says he would not have been allowed to see such a film a few years ago, Setsuko tells him Suichi believes American heroes to be better role models for children now than Japanese heroes. Ono tells Setsuko of his plans to take Ichiro to see the monster movie the following day but Setsuko says Noriko has made plans for the deer park.

After supper, Noriko and Ono have a verbal battle over the plans for the following day, Noriko insistent that her plans for taking Ichiro to the deer park cannot be changed since a visit to Mrs Watanabe was incorporated. Noriko’s forwardness contrasts her sister who mostly defers to her father but Setsuko ultimately backs her sister, suggesting they could go to the movies the day after. In an effort to exert his authority, Ono tries to get Ichiro to side with him in their original plan however Ichiro runs out of the room. Ono goes to console Ichiro, speaking divisively – ‘we can’t have the women ruling over us, can we?’ (p 32). When Ichiro doesn’t respond, Ono laughs nervously then leaves him.

Back with his daughters, Ono declines the invitation to go to the deer park in favour of doing work at the house. Noriko says Ono will just mope around the house as usual. Setsuko decides she will stay with her father so they can catch up on news, news Ono is initially pleased about until he learns she had other reasons for staying back.

The following day, Setsuko catches Ono lost in thought in the reception room, and Ono shares with her how retirement has given him more time on his hands, that he moves at a slower place, absentmindedly stopping occasionally. The reception room, a room used for special occasions, causes Ono to recall the home in which he grew up and how revered the reception room was, that he was not allowed to enter it until he was twelve – he accords this experience with his ‘ability to realise a scene on canvas based only on the briefest of passing glances’ (p 34).

The narrative jumps back to Ono’s childhood, aged twelve, when his father would summon him into the reception room for weekly ‘business meetings’. Ono lived in dread of these meetings, where he was shown accounting books and taught lengthy calculations he did not understand; his fear at his father learning of his ignorance was only equalled by the shame Ono felt in hiding this from him. Ono’s restrictive childhood contrasts that of the more carefree Ichiro, highlighting relaxing of tradition and childrearing practices after the war.

Ono remembers being aged fifteen and asked to bring his paintings into the reception room where he notices a large ashpot. Ono’s father regards his work, giving him some positive feedback but also questioning him as to whether he has brought all of his work, assuming he has not brought his most favoured pieces. Ono’s father says he is aware from Ono’s mother that Ono wishes to become a painter and asks Ono to fetch her as well as bring the remainder of his work. When Ono returns with his mother, Ono smells burning but notices his father has not yet burned his drawings. Ono’s father tells of a visit from a wandering priest when Ono was a baby who provided ‘deep insight’ (p 38) into Ono and that, amongst some positive predictions, he would have ‘a tendency towards slothfulness and deceit’ (p 38), traits his father says he has indeed observed in Ono’s development. Ono’s mother interjects that perhaps the priest’s words should not be taken to heart, and that some artists can achieve success. However Ono counters with his negative view, ‘Artists live in squalor and poverty. They inhabit a world which gives them every temptation to become weak-willed and depraved’ (p 39), discarding the possibility that Ono could achieve success, and that it was his duty to protect Ono from such a fate. Ono’s father then asks Ono to leave him and his mother alone.

Later that night, Ono speaks to his mother and says he smells burning. He enquires as to what his father is doing and is told he is working in the reception room. Ono suspects his father is burning his paintings and reaffirms to his mother that his father’s views have only made him more ambitious to rise above the ‘the counting of loose change’ (p 40) and that his father’s meetings bore and disgust him. His mother assures him his priorities will change as he gets older but Ono reiterates his position, indicating he will concentrate his efforts towards a higher pursuit.

One returns the narrative to the present, and the second day of Setsuko’s visit. Setsuko is arranging flowers in front of the Buddhist alter in the reception room, and suggests her father ‘take certain precautionary steps’ (p 42) in relation to the investigations as part of Noriko’s arranged marriage. Ono mistakes her intention as being in relation to Ono’s investigation of the groom’s family but Setsuko is referring to the groom’s family’s investigation of Noriko’s family, to which Ono responds: ‘I was not aware we had anything to hide’ (p 42). Setsuko apologises for any failings in her communication, saying Suichi would explain things better, leaving ambiguous whether or not there is a secret which could undermine current negotiations, then goes on to state that at 26 years old, Noriko could not afford another disappointment. As if sensing she has said enough, Setsuko returns to a critical assessment of her flower arrangement.

The narrative jumps to the day before when Ono is taking a tram to Arakawa and he ponders the exchange he just had with Setsuko in the reception room. He feels irritated but realises this is directed at Suichi not Setsuko, who he acknowledges suffered in Manchuria (where Suichi served in the war) but whose strengthening views on Japan’s involvement in the war he believes are negatively influencing Noriko, which he finds resentful – Ono often sees the sisters talking then changing the subject when Ono arrives. Ono recalls Noriko telling him of running into Jiro Miyake, the groom with whom marriage negotiations ended last year, in which he told her he was to be married. To Ono, Noriko’s handling and retelling of this meeting are viewed as indiscretions, however Noriko proceeds with how she almost asked Jiro about the failed negotiations last year. She asks her father why the negotiations failed to which Ono replies there are many reasons and, sensing Noriko’s persistence, restates his belief that it was due to the Miyake’s social standing being inferior to that of Noriko’s family.

Ono digresses to an occasion when he had a chance meeting with Jiro over a year ago when Ono was in the Yokote district and Jiro was emerging from an office. Jiro was shabbily dressed and acted awkwardly, and they talked for a time while they walked to the tram stop. It was a week following this meeting that the Miyake’s pulled out of the marriage negotiation and Ono contemplates whether Jiro had known of this at the time of their meeting. Ono realises now he paid little attention to the actual content of the conversation with Jiro, and had instead been focused on putting Jiro at ease as it seemed he appeared self-conscious about Ono having seen his workplace. Ono shares his view with Setsuko, who had been visiting at the time. With his assessment focusing on Jiro’s appearance, which positions him as inferior, Ono seems to be reinforcing his theory on the Miyake family having pulled out of negotiations based on their social status. Ono suspects Setsuko has her own theories.

The digression to the meeting with Jiro causes Ono to remember another part of the conversation in which Jiro told him his company’s president had died. Ono remembers expressing his condolences to which Jiro explained the president had committed suicide as an apology for the company’s activities during the war. Ono argued how this was a shame and a waste and that people should not be blamed for supporting their country during a war. Contrarily, Jiro shared of the relief within the company, now under American leadership, and how they could now move on. He continued with labelling the many men who were responsible for mistakes during the war as cowards compared to the company president, men who refused to own up to their mistakes, some of whom were back in the positions they held before the war. Ono’s recall for this particular detail contradicts the inattention he previously stated he gave the conversation, unusual given his sensitivity towards criticisms of his generation from the younger generation as seen in his conversations with Suichi, and to whom in his further analysis he attributes as having said part of what he thinks he heard from Jiro.

Remembering Suichi’s past comments causes Ono to think about his son Kenji’s funeral, after his ashes arrived from Manchuria where he had died crossing a minefield. Suichi walks away from the ceremony looking angry, Setsuko explaining to Ono that Suichi had witnessed many such ceremonies and that they made him angry. Later in the reception room, Ono asks Suichi why the ceremony made him angry. Suichi responds that it is because of the waste of life to which Ono agrees, stating how Kenji died bravely. Suichi stares at Ono in a way that unnerves Ono, then tells him how half of his high school graduation class had died courageous lives and how the persons responsible for their deaths were still alive and enjoying great success under the American occupation. Ono does not challenge Suichi, realising that this was Suichi’s general mood these days, different to how it was when he married Setsuko two years before the war. Ono had become worried about Suichi’s views and how they have started to influence Setsuko, admitting that he has seen the same bitterness become more widespread in the younger population. He cites as an example the beating of a 50 year old developmentally delayed man who continues to sing the patriotic songs around the neighbourhood for food and money as he did before the war.

Ono digresses during a tram ride to Arakawa to give an overview of the introduction of the tramlines which extended in 1931 out of the crowded city affording its citizens some open space. He recalls the flourishing of the pleasure district in his area and how influential he was in the transformation of the long-established bar, Yamagata’s, where he’d been visiting for twenty years into the patriotic Migi-Hidari at a time when he only had links to the state department but was not yet working for them. This is the reason for which he was offered a permanent table at the Migi-Hidari, again referencing his surprise that his self-esteem went before him.

Talking about the Migi-Hidari brings Ono to recounting his arrival to Furukawa and of how shabby it was in 1913, full of abandoned warehouses and shabby homes. Ono lived in an attic where he could barely stand up, so that when he painted at night he splashed the walls and tatami (a floor mat used in traditional Japanese homes) but he was delighted to be working as an artist and gave little thought to his conditions. During the day he worked in Master Takeda’s studio in a long room above a restaurant producing large numbers of Japanese-style paintings of ‘geishas, cherry trees, swimming carps, temples’ (p 62) that were commissioned by foreigners, often having to work late into the night back at his home to make the deadlines. After a year at Master Takeda’s, an artist named Yasunari Nakahara joined the firm, who Ono explains never gained any reputation as an artist and went on to be a high school art teacher. The Tortoise, as he was known, kept his teaching career after the war; Ono’s noting ‘the authorities seeing no reason to replace him as they did so many of his fellow teachers’ suggests the Tortoise’s nationalist position was not as strong as Ono’s thus his career was able to withstand the change in social and political climate. His was nicknamed ‘the Tortoise’ because compared to the six or seven canvasses Ono and most of his colleagues would produce, the Tortoise was only able to produce two or three. In the busy Takeda firm, the other workers became frustrated with the Tortoise’s low output and began to accuse him of laziness to which he would apologise and ask for patience. When this continued, Ono stepped in to defend the Tortoise stating he possessed more artistic integrity than the others because he took time with his work. Tortoise’s expression of gratitude appears validating to Ono as he again reflects on the considerable respect he commanded from his colleagues. He uses this intervention with Tortoise to describe the birthing of a quality he would be much respected for later in life: ‘the ability to think and judge for myself, even if it meant going against the sway of those around me’ (p 62).

Ono’s narrative jumps to four months later when he tells the Tortoise that he is planning to leave Master Takeda to study under the painter and printer Seiji Moriyama. When he calls Mr Moriyama as ‘a true artist’ (p 63) the antithesis seems to be that the works produced by the Takeda firm are stereotypical and have less artistic integrity. He tells the Tortoise that he will show the master his work with the prospect of making him a student also but the Tortoise sees this as being disloyal to Master Takeda. Realising his comments may have suggested that Ono was being disloyal, he becomes embarrassed but Ono goes on to say: ‘Loyalty has to be earned. There’s too much made of loyalty. All too often men talk of loyalty and follow blindly. I for one have no wish to lead my life like that’ (p 64). In his retelling, Ono admits that he is not sure if those were the words he used, how ‘with repeated telling, such accounts begin to take on a life of their own…’ (p 64) but that he is certain they represented his attitude at the time. With this, Ono segues to the Migi-Hidari where he recollects the attention and interest he would command anytime he spoke, and where he used ‘the Takeda experience’ (p 66) to encourage the students to think independently and challenge authority. Ono’s attitudes were significantly changing at this time, but his call ‘to rise above the undesirable and decadent influences that have swamped us and have done so much to weaken the fibre of our nation these past ten, fifteen years’ is contradicted by the decadence into which he appeared to be descending.

Ono recalls how one of Kuroda’s paintings, ‘The Patriotic Spirit’, depicts a night of drinking at the Migi-Hidari, challenging the notion that the patriotic spirit belongs to people in their everyday lives and is not just represented by soldiers.

Reminiscing about the old times with Shintaro as they sit at Mrs Kawakami’s, Ono hopes the bar can expand and one day become like the Migi-Hidari. He sets his mind to give this more thought after Noriko is married.

Ono mentions seeing his former protégé Kuroda, pointing out how he had aged, and that just when Ono thought he was starting to bow, he turned and walked away. Kuroda was Ono’s star pupil so the lack of respect the former shows for the latter indicates there has been a break in their relationship, which Ono leaves unexplained. Ono gives as his reason for even raising Kuroda’s name due to a conversation with a Mr Saito in which his name came up. Ono had taken Ichiro to see the monster movie. Ichiro tells Ono that he has asked his aunt Noriko to show him his grandfather’s paintings but she said they are packed away. Ichiro suggests his aunt is being disobedient and finds common ground with his grandfather, when, after Ichiro repeats his statement, Ono agrees.

On the tram, Ono and Ichiro see Dr Saito, father of Noriko’s prospective husband, Taro. Compared to the Miyakes, the Saitos are a prestigious family. Dr Saito and Ono speak only briefly about the marriage negotiation, and Dr Saito engages Ichiro in conversation before raising the topic of their mutual acquaintance, Mr Kuroda. Ono says he has not seen Kuroda since before the war and asks how is to which Dr Saito reports he has been appointed the art teacher at the new Uemachi College, where he himself advises on appointments. Before departing the train, Dr Saito tells Ono he will mention to Mr Kuroda that they he saw Ono when he sees him next.

Ichiro finds the monster movie scary and spends much of the time with his raincoat over his head.

During the dinner meal, Ono shares with his daughter about the meeting with Dr Saito and Dr Saito’s mentioning of Kuroda. Ono feels the sisters have been discussing Ono behind his back. After dinner, Ichiro has trouble sleeping and Noriko blames her father for taking him to see the movie. Alone with Ono, Setsuko brings up Noriko’s planned wedding and Ono’s talk with Dr Saito, and remembers how Kuroda used to visit the house, suggesting that Ono may want to visit Kuroda and certain other acquaintances from his past before the Saito’s investigator does, to prevent any misunderstandings.

Ono shift’s the narrative to yesterday, when he took a tram ride to Arakawa, during which he makes mention of the many changes in the neighbourhood he notices along the way. Ono has come to visit Chishu Matsuda, whom he first met thirty years ago when Ono had been living at Seiji Moriyama’s villa. Matsuda attended at the villa one morning, and had asked for Ono and some others who lived at the villa, the students all guilty at being caught unawares, sleeping late from their night out drinking. Matsuda represented the Okada-Shingen Society, an organization that put on exhibitions for artists in the city (which was shut down by the Americans after the war), and had previously written to Ono to invite him to participate in an exhibition but which Ono had declined on advice from his teacher. Matsuda said that they should forget the exhibition, that he had not come to represent the Okada-Shingen Society, but as a true lover of art. He told Ono that he wished to discuss ideas that may benefit Ono’s development as an artist and then left Ono his card.

In the present time, Ono is greeted by Matsuda in the reception room, Matsuda in ill-health and helped by a woman to walk and sit. Matsuda is surprised to see Ono and recalls they didn’t part on the easiest of terms, though Ono doesn’t recall a quarrel, which Matsuda confirms. Matsuda gives his apologies for not being able to attend the funeral of Ono’s wife (this is the first reference to Matsuda’s wife having passed away) and reminisces about when they first came together, with Matsuda being the facilitator of their match. Matsuda talks of how Michiko died so close to the end of the war then changes the subject, but Ono says it’s comforting to talk of his wife with Matsuda. Miss Suzuki, Mr Matsuda’s nurse and housekeeper, brings tea and Ono and Matsuda sit in silence for a time and enjoy the garden.

Matsuda shares he is lucky to not have lost his savings and assets in the war, although he has lost his health, and that he can share with a colleague since he has no heirs, making mention of a colleague who has become reduced to begging. Ono reassures Matsuda he has not come for financial assistance but in relation to his daughter’s marriage talks. He asks if Matsuda was approached to which Matsuda responds he has been very ill and wasn’t receiving guests but that if he had, he would have only nice things to say about Ono. Matsuda notices that Ono still looks uneasy, repeating that he has already assured him he will only say good things. Ono continues with sharing how delicate the marriage talks are, and Matsuda indicates his understanding that some people these days will condemn what they tried to do but he believes they have much to be proud of, finishing with the reassurance that he will use delicacy in discussing the past.

Matsuda enquires after anyone else Ono has visited to which Ono responds that Matsuda is the first, Ono unknowing where to find the rest of the old colleagues. Matsuda suggests Ono seek out Kuroda, even if it is painful for Ono, but Ono says he doesn’t know where he is. Matsuda hopes the detective may be equally unable to find him, and Ono grows pale. Observing Ono’s stress over his daughter’s marriage, Matsuda ponders if he didn’t make the better choice by never marrying and having children. Ms Suzuki says it is now time for Matsuda to rest.

Waiting for the return tram in Arakawa, Ono feels comforted by his visit with Matsuda, that he would have ‘only the best of things to report from the past’ (p 86), and perhaps also from the camaraderie of having spent time with someone with whom he shared similar views and who, apart from his ill-health, seems to have moved on relatively unscathed from the war.

Part One Quotes

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 previous 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, absentmindedly 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