Tokyo Ueno Station

Kazu returns from his recollections to the present. He describes the scene at Ueno Park. Laborers and people without homes are smoking on park benches, for which a voice on a loudspeaker admonishes them. Kazu discusses how most of the people of the park ended up without homes and how they usually have likewise become detached from their families. He points out that “nobody becomes homeless because they want to be” (83). Kazu chronicles some of the ways people without homes earn money, including collecting and selling the nuts that fall from the ginkgo trees in the park. He also includes and discusses collecting aluminum cans as a source of meager income.

Kazu stands near the statue of Saigo Takamori, a legendary Japanese samurai and hero. This leads him to recount a dialogue he had with Shige, one in which his friend provided a brief history of Saigo. Though Saigo supported the imperial family and helped lead the Meiji Restoration, he was vehemently opposed to many aspects of it and eventually led the Satsuma Rebellion against the imperial government. Many followers of Saigo were former samurai, who found themselves unemployed after the Restoration and the abolishment of the feudal system.