Duty, Honor, Country... Was it All a Waste?

Japan has been at war for over 10 years before the US got involved in the Pacific. The once poor and weak nation of Japan was to soon forge a destiny never imagines before. The world progresses without them and yet, Germany, Russia, France and the British have mustered their own power and serve as some of the most powerful nations on the face of the earth. Yet, " Japan stand like a giant amidst cripples and dwarfs. And yet we allow our people to grow more and more desperate, our little children to die of malnutrition", as Matsuda points out to Ono (173). Ono is presented with a dilemma that not only changed his perspective on the world he lived in, but that it was time to move on and change his way of painting. Mori-sans "floating world" may be that of pleasure and show the beauty that is contained with women and drinks, but to show the reality of things is a major step that Ono soon took after drawing a picture. This picture didn't only show the reality behind all the fake "floating world" ideology that everything is nice and perfect. Instead, "Eyes of the Horizon", depicts the difference in society by showing a gap between the wealthy and poor. Children represent the poor as they have barely enough to survive or even live anywhere in such harsh conditions, while politicians and business men drink and have all the time in the world to do what they want. What causes controversy and Ono's dismissal from Mori-sans villa is showing that the three children turn into Imperial soldiers who serve the Emperor, while the wealthy men retreat from the picture as if to hide from something. This was due to Matsuda's insistence that Japan must progress. He says, " It's time for us to forge an empire as powerful and wealthy as those of the British and the French. We must use our strength to expand abroad. The time is now well due for Japan to take her rightful place amongst the world powers. Believe me, Ono, we have the means to do so, but have yet to discover the will. And we must rid ourselves of these businessmen and politicians" (174). Japan was behind and many knew nothing of the outside world, the real world. Japan was itself its own 'floating world", where everything was perfect and beautiful, but they wouldn't progress much since they still dealt with problems about how society is. Here is where everything is based on. Ono's decisions to create something people didn't have, didn't believe in was soon to spark a change in mind, hearts, and souls of every Japanese person who thought it was imperative to make Japan better and bigger. This was the beginning of a new era for Japan. a simple painting or photograph can have much effect on people. For example the photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima was memorable because every person back in the State were influenced by it. It provided hope and helped raise money for the war, since production of weapons and everything needed to win against Japan was declining at a heavy rate. Ono's painting is similar. It provided hope, even though at first it was disloyal to his teacher, but it was a step that soon gave young men the incentive to serve their Emperor, to serve their country, to believe that their country was expanding and becoming better. Of course this wasn't the case in the end, but Ono has no reason to believe that he did wrong is making patriotic paintings. At the time it was honorable to fight and die for Emperor and family, but as we see Japanese culture changes. It was risky and yet blameworthy to what Ono did to help the war effort. But as Ono point out, " We have the satisfaction of knowing that whatever we did, we did at the time in the best of faith. Of course we took some bold steps and often did things with much single-mindedness; but this is surely preferable to never putting one's convictions to the test, for lack of will or courage" (202). I do believe that Ono was right and is proud that he did what he did. The war benefited them in a way, but showed that in reality, Japan wasn't ready for the world. It accomplished only the fact that such ideology was to be forever cast away.

Ishiguro, Kazuo. An Artist of the Floating World. New York. Vintage Books. 1989.

Sake for Me, Spinach for You...

Masuji Ono's conversations with his grandson, Ichiro, bring up comparisons between the West and East. Our first encounter with Ichiro we get a show of his love for cowboys through his imitation of Lone Ranger and he is fascinated with by a movie called Godzilla which is about a huge monster that destroys a city in Japan. The author Kazuo Ishiguro makes use of Ichiro's fascinations in two ways: First he shows us the difference in culture between generations. With the US now involved in Japan, the newer generation loses much of the older customs that Ono wishes would not be lost. Secondly, there is deeper meaning in each situation that gives light to problems within the old Japanese culture.

Later in the novel, Ichiro goes out to eat with Ono where we are introduced to another difference in the generation that is caused by the western influence. After Ichiro gobs down some spinach and starts acting like a maniac, Ono tries to figure out what he was doing. He thinks Ichiro is acting like a drunk man after drinking sake but he finds out that he is completely wrong. Ichiro is more interested in the American Popeye the Sailor man and his spinach than the Japanese and their sake. Ichiro asks Ono, "Does sake make you strong?" and Ono replies, "Sake can make you believe you're strong. But in reality, Ichiro, you're no stronger than before you drank it". What's interesting is that Ono admits that spinach can make Ichiro stronger. With spinach acting as a symbol for the American culture and Sake for the Japanese, the author shows that there is a major difference between strengths in both countries. Where the US is concerned, they have real strength, and where Japan is concerned, they only have false strength. The story is set after WWII when Japan is recovering from the defeat of their country. This spinach/sake metaphor directly represents the feeling of the Japanese at the time. Many thought that Japan would come out victorious, but the bravery and strength that Japan had was only imagined. The US had to show its true strength through the war and after, the Japanese were left reflecting upon their weak state.

War is Hell

Years have passed since the artist Masuji Ono retired from his beloved ability to paint and left behind not only that ambition, but also relived himself of his past. After World War 2, Japan was in devastation and had little or not much to gain, due to the lives and resources that were consumed to provide Imperial Japan with a strong empire to conquer the territory around the Pacific. Yet, many things before and after have affected Mr. Ono after the war and due to this, he lost his devotion to art.
Perhaps of all the things that changed Mr. Ono was his father’s willingness to stop him from becoming an artist, since, in his father’s eyes, artists’, “ live in squalor and poverty” (46). It was due to this negativity that brought Mr. Ono to a rather surprising and disobedient conclusion. One believes that after such a statement from a parent, especially an honorable Japanese father, a child would stop and do anything to honor his parents and please them. It’s this Japanese philosophy that an obedient child would most likely live better off and not do anything else to make his parents annoyed. Yet, Ono makes a strong statement to his mother by saying that even though his father, not wanting his son to be a weak and depraved artist, wouldn’t agree to his art all he did was, “ kindled [his] ambition” (48). This shows that, even before the war for Japan in the 1930’s, Ono had a special gift to use for art. Not only that, but also, Japan was expanding and making a name on the global stage. Everything changed though after the war came through. Art for Imperial Japan and Ono won’t be the same, depicting heroes on the front and even the landscape would change.
Banzai! A common Japanese battle cry used to honor the Emperor before a suicidal charge that, in the long run, brought nothing but destruction to Imperial Japan and to Ono’s family. It’s during the war, that Ono had the most anxiety and was beginning to fall apart on his artistic ability to even continue on with his work. The novel provides details to show that how devastating the war had affected not only Ono, but also his surroundings and neighbors. Every Japanese family gave up their best young men to fight and bring back honor to their families after their deaths. Yet, the people and land, in other words, Ono’s world turned from a beautiful and wealthy Japan, to a war-torn landscape full of debris and rubble. Yet, the most devastating thing was the death of his son. Due to Japan’s conquest of Manchuria during and after the war, the Soviet Communists decided to invade due to its declaration of war. Here, Ono’s son, Kenji, died after a suicidal banzai attempt to charge at the enemy Soviets, but was killed during the battle. Same as with other families, I’m pretty sure such a deadly blow to Ono, seeing that Kenji as his only son, had some kind of influence on his retirement of art. Ono, yet, retains a peaceful mindset and sets off to try to leave such things as his father’s negative attitude towards new things such as the art that gave Ono an opportunity to pursue something he enjoyed and was good at.
If it weren’t for the war, Ono might’ve still practiced art and perhaps teached others, He could’ve done something about his love for that ability and continue to enjoy what he does best. Yet, life isn’t always fair and Ono lived through the struggles that life tosses to him day by day.

Ishiguro, Kazuo. An Artist of the Floating World. New York. Vintage International. 1989.