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Yasunari Nakahara, the Tortoise
A middle-aged woman who cares deeply about her father’s legacy, Akira Sugimora’s younger daughter comes to visit Ono to sell him her house. She and her older sister propose an “auction of prestige,” in which they will sell the house for a fixed price to the buyer whom they feel deserves the house. She comes to visit the house after the war. Ono is at first offended that she doesn’t seem to care about all that he has lost but grows to pity her after realizing that she has lost a great deal in the war too.
Miss Sugimora Quotes in An Artist of the Floating World
The An Artist of the Floating World quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Sugimora or refer to Miss Sugimora. 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:
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October 1948
Quotes
Besides, there was surely much to admire in the idea of 'an auction of prestige', as the elder daughter called it. One wonders why things are not settled more often by such means. How so much more honourable is such a contest, in which one's moral conduct and achievement are brought as witnesses rather than the size of one's purse. I can still recall the deep satisfaction I felt when I learnt the Sugimuras — after the most thorough investigation — had deemed me the most worthy of the house they so prized.
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Miss Sugimora Character Timeline in An Artist of the Floating World
The timeline below shows where the character Miss Sugimora appears in An Artist of the Floating World. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
October 1948
...after the “surrender” the younger of the two Sugimura sisters came to visit the house. Miss Sugimura hardly paid attention to Ono’s news that Michiko and their son Kenji had been killed....
(full context)
...the war, especially the very beautiful corridor running alongside the garden to the eastern wing. Miss Sugimura was near tears at the sight, but Ono reassured her that he would repair it....
(full context)
