The Artist

Who are the artists of the Floating World? Browsing through the internet I came across the term "Geisha". What's a Geisha you may ask, well they are men, women who for a living train to be entertainers. Meaning they spent every waken moment perfecting their dancing, music and poetry skills. They keep Japanese culture alive and that's what makes Japan so prideful. So why then do we read in Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist Of The Floating World of businessmen and other common folk harbor disdain for an artist?

Ono's own father did not approve his choice of hobby and so tried bashing his dream by saying,
"Artists' live in squalor and poverty. They inhabit a world which gives them every temptation to become weak-willed and depraved. "(46). Why at this given moment? Ono is someone who wants to live his life for himself by escaping into the mystery and fantasy that's art. Maybe Ono's dad knows this but doesn't want his only male son to put the family name in shame by becoming a no-name artist. Imagine how people would treat Ono's family if he painted something so radical and the Japanese didn't like it? Surely they would be shun from society and seen as lowly people.

There's no shame however in being an artist. In fact it's probably the hardest profession there can be because the past, present and future of Japan is in their hands. Ono has so much to offer that what he paints will have an impact in Japanese culture. And as we know he does and because of that he's know reminiscing and thinking of all the people he knew before the war.
We understand that before he could become a "real artist" he worked for a commercial company that made "Japanese Art" .



"Japanese Culture - Geisha." Japan-Zone.com - Japan Travel Guide, Japanese Pop Culture, History, Japanese Girls, Japanese Guys. 1999-. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. .