Jiro Miyake Character Analysis in An Artist of the Floating World

A potential husband for Noriko, who pulled out of marriage negotiations a year before the beginning of the novel’s action. Ono dwells on his memory of an interaction he and Jiro had while waiting for the tram one day, in which Jiro said something to Ono that makes Ono think that his past is to blame for the failure of Noriko’s marriage negotiations.

Jiro Miyake Quotes in An Artist of the Floating World

The An Artist of the Floating World quotes below are all either spoken by Jiro Miyake or refer to Jiro Miyake. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Memory, Self-Perception, and Self-Deception Theme Icon

).

But as I say, there is a different mood in the country these days, and Suichi's attitudes are probably by no means exceptional. Perhaps I am being unfair if I credit young Miyake, too, with such bitterness, but then the way things are at present, if you examine anything anyone says to you, it seems you will find a thread of this same bitter feeling running through it. For all I know, Miyake did speak those words; perhaps all men of Miyake's and Suichi's generation have come to think and speak like that.

Related Characters: Masuji Ono (speaker), Suichi , Jiro Miyake, Hirayama Boy

Page Number and Citation: 61

Explanation and Analysis:

Jiro Miyake Character Timeline in An Artist of the Floating World

The timeline below shows where the character Jiro Miyake appears in An Artist of the Floating World. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Family Reputation, Family Secrets, and Familial Loss Theme Icon

...waited until the last minute because they were confused about the right thing to do. Jiro and Noriko claimed that it was a love match, but in the end, they decided... (full context)

Ono recalls how, a few days before, Noriko told him about running into Jiro Miyake. She told Ono that she had asked Jiro if he was going to be... (full context)

Ono says that this exchange with Noriko reminded him of the time he ran into Jiro outside of his workplace. Jiro had looked shabby in his work clothes and had acted... (full context)

...could hardly remember it. He explains that he had been preoccupied with trying to put Jiro at ease and had not paid much attention to what was said. Ono suggests to... (full context)

...marriage fell through. Since her recent visit, Ono has been thinking over his encounter with Jiro again, even though he could hardly remember it as little as a week after it... (full context)

Ono recalls part of his conversation with Jiro that he hadn’t previously seen as significant. While waiting for their respective trams, Jiro told... (full context)

As Ono reflects on that conversation now, he wonders whether Jiro really said those words. They sound much more to him like something Suichi would say... (full context)

...country lead people to beat the Hirayama boy. Reflecting on this, he thinks that perhaps Jiro really did make the comment about “the greatest cowardice of all.” Perhaps, he thinks, Jiro... (full context)

...the previous year. He thinks she must have been quite confident that she would marry Jiro Miyake and been shocked when it fell through, but this does not excuse her rudeness... (full context)