Describe the character traits of major characters.

Ono is the novel’s protagonist and narrator. He is, at the time of the narration, an aging retired artist in post-war Japan. He has a somewhat mysterious past, which he reveals in small pieces, and it seems that his role in the art world once involved encouraging Japanese imperialism and nationalism during the Second World War. He expresses some nostalgia for the height of those movements and some resentment of both Japan’s post-war American leadership and the younger generation’s acquiescence to it. For the sake of his younger daughter’s marriage prospects, though, he spends much of the novel trying to publicly make amends for or paper over that past. As the story wears on, Ono begins to reveal slowly that the trajectory of his life has perhaps been both sadder and more ordinary than he had previously implied. Though he remains passionate about art, his primary interests and pastimes now involve home and family, especially his young grandson, Ichiro.

Information on the novel's other characters is readily available in GradeSaver's character page, which is located in the Study Guide for the unit.