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Aminat Osmanova Prof. Morales English 101 28 October 2023 Essay “Tokyo Ueno Station” Tokyo Ueno Station is a novel written by writer Yu Miru. This poignant story is about the life of Kazu. He is a tragic figure who has experienced difficulties and tragedies in his life. The author wrote about his life and also about the homeless in the Ueno Station. This book shows the injustice, devil-may-care attitude, and the main character’s experiences and regrets. So, there are some questions that I want to write in this essay: Why is Kazu considered a tragic figure? What life experiences or personality traits account for his tragic life? I think he is a tragic figure because he had a lot of sad moments in his life and the story of his life can clearly show how his life was so tragic. In the first pages, we can familiarize ourselves with some characters and the Ueno Station. Our main character is a ghost. And he is thinking about his life and regret. Kazu looked at how people went in and out of the park. He grew up during WWII in a city called Soma in Japan. He was one of eight children in his family and had to begin work after middle school because his family was poor and needed help with finances. He continued work without rest for almost his all life. He rarely spent time with his wife and children, Koichi and Yoko. Kazu tells only one important memory about his children when they were little. “There was a festival or something, and I took my children to Haramachi for a day out” (pg.12). But this day wasn’t so good because
Koichi wanted to ride on a helicopter, but Kazu couldn’t afford it. He felt very uncomfortable at the moment. “I wanted to give him that helicopter ride, but I couldn’t afford it, and so I didn’t — I still regret it. And ten years later, on that awful day, that regret again stabbed my heart, it is with me now, it never lives…” (pg. 13). Throughout the story, he struggles with guilt and grief, seeking consolation. The first is why is Kazu a tragic figure I want to add some pieces of his story to explain. So, Kazu always was in stressful and difficult situations. The fact that he was born into a family with eight children can said that it was trouble for his family because they had problems with financial. That is why Kazu began work after middle school. The author describes what kind of work he had in that period. His first job was lodgings provider at Onaham Port in Iwaki. And he slept on a large fishing board. And the problem at the time was lice. “I could see the lice brushing off—they were in the very stitching—and when I got the slightest bit warm, I could feel them creeping around on my back—quite the nuisance.” (Pg. 18-19). He worked there for 2 years and then worked with his father until his son Koichi was born, and his uncle pulled strings to get him a job. There is one more reason why he regrets about how he spends his life. In this book, it is most of a tragic memory of the main character when Koichi died. In this episode, Kazu was shocked and regretted that didn’t spend more time with him. One of the most touchable is “We lay on the futon, where had died, until the morning.” (Pg. 50). We can see how parents are feeling about this situation. Also, the author often talks about the rain throughout the book. I think the rain is symbolic of sadness, purification, and heaviness of emotions. The rain parallels the regret and grief experienced by the main character. The rain reflects the weight of
his mother always said to him in this book “You never did have any luck, did you?”. Also, in the end, there is one more tragedy Tsunami that killed his granddaughter, Mari. In conclusion, I want to say that our hero, Kazu had a very unlucky life. He was against many problems from his childhood to his old age. This is a very sad and heartbreaking story that I read before. He is a tragic figure in this book because of many aspects. It’s hard to realize that there are many such people and not everyone can live happily and beautifully. This book made me think that we should appreciate everything we have, appreciate the time spent with loved ones, appreciate that we have a home, food, and a warm bed, and appreciate that you have living parents and a loved one. But people, unfortunately, often still appreciate it all after they lose it.
Work cited: Miri, Yu. Tokyo Ueno Station. Penguin Usa, 2021.
