“Time does not pass. Time never ends.”
Kazu’s story dwells on the passage of time and its impacts on society, the living, and even the dead. He witnesses the changes in society that occur during his lifetime and continue to take place in his death. The protagonist has lived a life of grief and pain that does not seem to relent, even as he grows older. While living in Ueno Park, Kazu has to endure harsh treatment from young people, the police, and the terrible weather. As he ponders on his life, he wishes that death can take away his pain as it can allow him to transcend suffering. He wonders whether time ceases after death and the self remains in space or time persists and the self is erased. In his afterlife, Kazu finds that time never stops as he lives through the occurrences in the space he once occupied.
“To be homeless is to be ignored when people walk past while still being in full view of everyone.”
The narrative is a commentary on the social invisibility that the have-nots suffer through in modern society. Miri tackles the issue of homelessness and poverty that hounds a large population of the working class after disasters. She aims to explore the lives of these people who built the city but remain invisible and marginalized by people and history. Several disasters including the 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident left a lot of residents homeless and without means to restart. As such, the wealthy populace barely understands their plight and only sees the homeless as nuisances. The story parallels the life of Kazu and his family and that of the emperor and the royal family. This highlights the huge disparity between the rich and the poor and the problem of discrimination that arises from it.
“And as I retreated into the future, the only thing I could ever see was the past”
The novel charts historical events from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the Japan earthquake of 2011 and the impending 2020 Olympics. As such, Kazu observes the occurrence of these moments in real time and continues to experience them in his death. He addresses the effects that persist after the incidents and events take place. Kazu lives in the past because he regrets the choices he made especially with his work-life balance. He spent most of his time working hard to provide rather than spending quality time with his wife and children. After the death of his family, he battles with grief and sadness as his life continues to deteriorate both financially and emotionally. In the afterlife his essence lingers in the city, as he exists in this future he proceeds to still think of the past.
