Longing for the Past

            His hometown almost unrecognizable, his own home severely damaged from the bombs of the war,  it is no wonder that Masuji Ono is having trouble leaving the past behind.  His past, his life before the war was so much more satisfying to him.  Before the war Ono's family was full of life and togetherness, with the passing of his wife and son each surviving member of his family seems to have lost a little of their own life.  Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing for the past, but is this great longing a good thing or a bad thing.  Are Ono's constant pre-war memories an affective way to cope with the present, or is Ono stuck living in this past.  I believe nostalgia to have both good and bad affects in people.  I believe that it is good to remember your past, learn from mistakes you have made, and keep fond memories close, but one should be careful for too much thought of the past may distract you from today.  It is good for people to relive certain moments of the past in their head; it can be pleasing to the mind.  Nostalgia is something that best comes in small doses for too much desire for events that have come and gone can drive a person mad.  It seems in Ono's case that he may be riding the border of sanity even in the fact that his constant thought of previous events in his life help him to cope with the awful times he lives in today.  

           It must be hard for Ono, someone who has seen his home thrive through such glorious times, now for him to look around and see his village in ruins, the people that live amongst him with such hopelessness in their eyes.  He speaks of the previous conditions of the pleasure district by describing it as a place "where the city's artists and writers...gather and drink together" (Ishiguro 63) he earlier mentions that “for all the changes which have transformed the world around it, Mrs. Kawakami’s remains as pleasing as ever” (Ishiguro 26).  Mrs. Kawakami’s is Ono’s favorite watering hole in his local pleasure district, in fact it is the last remaining which is why he loves it so much, walking into her place is like going back in time for Ono because it is the only shop that has remained relatively unchanged since the war.  One can only imagine the amount of sadness one would experience in a similar situation.  Because Ono is having such a hard time adapting to his new life and surroundings he finds himself missing the old times more and more.  This can only be expected, but I am curious to find if Ono's lust for long-ago will cloud his thoughts and vision of today, will his longing for the past overwhelm him to the point that his nostalgia has taken a negative affect on him, for I do believe that if not monitored ones own nostalgia could in fact hold them back from making any further advances within their own life.  This being said what can Ono's nostalgia possibly hold him back from, or has it already caused him to quit his art practice.  It is mentioned many times by his daughter that Ono's personality has in fact changed since the war has ended, it just may be too soon to tell whether or not that change has come for the better or for the worse.