The Pleasure District
While most of this book's imagery is minimal, visually-focused, and straightforward, Ono's descriptions of his favorite old neighborhood are vivid, packed with information from all five senses, and full of figurative language. In an early description of the old pleasure district, Ono describes the way that banners announcing various establishments leaned out into the street, using personification to bring the image to life. Later, he provides an aural and olfactory description, which stands out beside his other visual descriptions and makes us understand how vivid his memories remain. These images include "...the laughter of people congregated outside the Migi-Hidari, the smell of deep-fried food... the clicking of numerous wooden sandals on the concrete." Not only do these images bring the scene to life, they also show us particularly what Ono misses the most about it. For instance, the evocative image of wooden sandals brings to mind a distinctly Japanese type of clothing, tying the scene to a broader nostalgia and sense of lost nationalism.
Moriyama's Villa
Images of candlelight are prevalent in Seijo Moriyama's paintings, but, because Moriyama paints the lantern-lit floating world and seeks inspiration there, imagery of lamplight pervades descriptions of the city's lost nightlife as well. In fact, an entire period of Ono's life is essentially marked by its lighting, which is described in such a way that these scenes have an ethereal, distinct mood. Even in non-candlelit moments, Moriyama's villa has a similar mood—it feels separate from the rest of the world, connected to a timeless, decaying beauty. Ono gives us a rare image of scent to get this mood across, saying "Those roofs were forever developing new leaks and after a night of rain, the smell of damp wood and mouldering leaves would pervade every room." Imagery of leaking walls, rotting wood, and flickering lamplight all contribute to the same impression, since all of them remind us of temporariness and of how fleeting beauty can be.
War and Fire
While conveying the scene where the police burn Kuroda's paintings, Ono describes the sound of Kuroda's mother crying and the harsh scent of smoke. He blends different senses together to create a feeling of sensory overload. As a general rule, Ishiguro reserves these kinds of vivid sensory images for moments that are particularly important to Ono, either because they are full of beauty or because they are traumatic. This is clearly the latter, and the combined images of the sound of crying and the scent of smoke make it a vivid moment for the reader as well. Since Ono rarely talks about the war directly, as if it is still too raw to mention, this scene also serves as a kind of substitute for a battle scene or a bombing scene. The images within it bring to mind death, violence, and destruction, allowing us to picture the war even without it being directly described.
Poverty
While observing a poor neighborhood with Matsuda, Ono is first struck by its scent, which Matsuda attributes to sewage. To make this image more vivid, Ishiguro cleverly employs a visual image of swarming flies, which show us that the day is hot and emphasize the overwhelming nature of the neighborhood's smell. He also includes an aural image of the flies' buzzing, so that each sense emphasizes and builds on the others. By making the reader feel overwhelmed by images, Ishiguro conveys the overwhelming feeling of this crowded, uncomfortable area. Every person who reads this scene is likely to feel struck by at least one image and to remember it. Therefore, when Ono explains that the image of boys torturing an animal has remained in his mind, we understand and sympathize.
