The Setting Sun

In Chapter 7, Kazuko navigates the devastating loss of her brother by giving him the authorial voice he long craved. She presents his suicide note in full, allowing him to convey The Lingering Effects of Trauma that led to his death by suicide. 

For many years, Naoji was convinced that he was a talented writer. He felt alienated by society; he loathed the aristocracy he belonged to and was never accepted by other social classes, leaving him a pariah. Naoji turned to drugs and alcohol to alleviate his alienation, costing his family a huge amount in social reputation and actual money. Through his final letter, he has the chance to exercise the authorial voice which he felt was unjustly silenced. 

This change in narration offers a more nuanced glimpse into Naoji’s character, suggesting that he is more complicated and tormented than he appears on the surface. Naoji was possessed by a constant and profound depression. Only the death of his mother and the brief absence of his sister granted him the opportunity to die by suicide. He explains that he could neither bring himself to hurt his mother nor allow Kazuko to deal with the pain of finding his body. Naoji’s letter directly addresses Kazuko, showing her importance to him. In his final moments, she dominates his thoughts. He may have seemed uncaring, but Naoji cared deeply for his family. As such, he chooses to view his death not as a tragedy but as a relief. He sees no shame in the way he chooses to die, as he is pleased to finally organize the world on his terms.

In the final chapter, Kazuko writes another letter to Mr. Uehara that embodies The Persistence of Optimism. This time, her tone has changed. Her previous letters were increasingly emotional and desperate. She believed that he was the only way she could arrest the decline in her life and regain agency over her existence. Having met Uehara in Tokyo, Kazuko no longer believes this to be true. The urgency and the emotion have gone from her letter. She is no longer pleading with Uehara for him to reply. She no longer cares how he reacts. Instead, her pregnancy is a new source of optimism. Uehara is the past, Kazuko is the present, and the baby is the future. As such, Kazuko’s letter reflects the newly disposable nature of Uehara. 

While the baby is not yet born, Kazuko already speaks about the child as though it were with her. This illustrates the extent to which she is striving to move beyond the past. The past—the age of aristocracy—is fraught with grief and pain. As well as her mother, father, and brother, Kazuko still mourns the loss of her stillborn child. She refuses to entertain the idea of the same tragedy striking again. If the lost child represents grief and pain, then this new child represents an optimistic future. The past is the titular “setting sun,” an age that is in decline. The dawn will arrive soon, she hopes, and her optimism in the future is evident in the way she talks about her unborn child. Kazuko combines love and revolution, both of which are embodied in her baby. While Kazuko does not know what the future will look like, she is willing to love the baby and believe in the future. In an era of helplessness, this kind of optimism is Kazuko’s own private revolution.