Jiko Yasutani Character Analysis in A Tale for the Time Being

Jiko is Nao’s 104-year-old great-grandmother. Nao describes her as an anarchist-feminist Buddhist nun. Jiko decided to become a nun after her gentle, philosophical son, Haruki #1, was drafted into the military during World War II and died as a kamikaze pilot. Jiko tells Nao that her sorrow felt like a “whale” behind her chest, and by becoming a nun, she slowly “learned how to open up her heart so the whale could swim away.” Jiko knows that Nao is hurting, too, from all the troubles in her life—so she teaches Nao zazen (Zen Buddhist meditation) as a coping mechanism. Nao and Jiko become very close when Nao stays with Jiko at her temple over her summer vacation. Jiko talks to Nao about some Zen Buddhist principles that she values, like the importance of the present moment and the impermanence of all things. Nao feels loved and blessed when they are together. Jiko seems to know when Nao and Haruki feel defeated by life and are on the verge of committing suicide. She calls them to her temple when she is on her deathbed, and her final word to them is to live. Both of them love and respect her and take her advice to heart.

Jiko Yasutani Quotes in A Tale for the Time Being

The A Tale for the Time Being quotes below are all either spoken by Jiko Yasutani or refer to Jiko Yasutani. 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:

Time, Impermanence, and the Present Theme Icon

“But Granny, it’s going to take forever!”

“Well, we must try even harder, then.”

“We?!”

“Of course, dear Nao. You must help me.”

“No way!” I told Granny. “Forget it! I’m no fucking bosatsu…”

[…] I think maybe she was saying a blessing for me just then, too. I didn’t mind. It made me feel safe, like I knew no matter what happened, Granny was going to make sure I got onto that elevator.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 18-19

Explanation and Analysis:

But since these are my last days on earth, I want to write something important. […] I want to leave something real behind.

But what can I write about that’s real? Sure, I can write about all the bad shit that’s happened to me, and my feelings about my dad and my mom and my so-called friends, but I don’t particularly want to.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Ruth, Tomoko / Nao’s Mother, Kayla, Babette, Jiko Yasutani, Haruki Yasutani / Nao’s Father

Page Number and Citation: 22

Explanation and Analysis:

What if you never even found this book, because somebody chucked it in the trash or recycled it before it got to you? Then old Jiko’s stories truly will be lost forever, and I’m just sitting here wasting time talking to the inside of a dumpster. […]

Okay, here’s what I’ve decided. I don’t mind the risk, because the risk makes it more interesting. And I don’t think old Jiko will mind, either, because being
a Buddhist, she really understands impermanence and that everything changes and nothing lasts forever.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani, Ruth, Oliver

Page Number and Citation: 27

Explanation and Analysis:

It’s the cold fish dying in your stomach feeling. You try to forget about it, but as soon as you do, the fish starts flopping around under your heart and reminds you that something truly horrible is happening.

Jiko felt like that when she learned that her only son was going to be killed in the war. […] In fact, she said she had lots of fishes, […] but the biggest fish of all belonged to Haruki #1, and it was more like the size of a whale. She also said that after she became a nun and renounced the world, she learned how to open up her heart so that the whale could swim away. I'm trying to learn how to do that, too.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani, Ruth, Haruki #1 Yasutani

Page Number and Citation: 180

Explanation and Analysis:

Over and over, I ran at the sea, beating it until I was so tired I could barely stand. And then the next time I fell down, I just lay there and let the waves wash over me, and I wondered what would happen if I stopped trying to get
back up. Just let my body go. Would I be washed out to sea? The sharks would eat my limbs and organs. Little fish would feed on my fingertips. My beautiful white bones would fall to the bottom of the ocean, where anemones
would grow upon them like flowers. Pearls would rest in my eye sockets.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani

Related Symbols: Waves/Tsunami

Page Number and Citation: 193

Explanation and Analysis:

The Earthquake Catfish is not solely a malevolent fish, despite the havoc and calamity it can wreak. It has benevolent aspects as well. A subspecies of the
Earthquake catfish is […] World-Rectifying Catfish,
which is able to heal the political and economic corruption in society by shaking things up. […]

The World-Rectifying Catfish targeted the business class, the 1 percent […].
The angry catfish would cause an earthquake, wreaking havoc and destruction, and in order to rebuild, the wealthy would have to let go of their assets, which would create jobs […] for the working classes.

Related Characters: Ruth, Oliver, Jiko Yasutani, Naoko “Nao” Yasutani

Page Number and Citation: 198-199

Explanation and Analysis:

Choosing this death has various benefits associated with it. First, and most important, it guarantees a posthumous promotion of two ranks, which of course is meaningless, but it comes with a substantial increase in the pension paid to you upon my death. […]

So that is one benefit, and it is practical. The other benefit is perhaps more philosophical. By volunteering to sortie, I have now regained a modicum of agency over the time remaining in my life. Death in a ground offensive or bombing attack seems random and imprecise. This death is not. It is pure, clean, and purposeful. I will be able to control and therefore appreciate, intimately and exactly, the moments leading up to my death.

Related Characters: Haruki #1 Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani

Page Number and Citation: 256-257

Explanation and Analysis:

Today during a test flight, I remembered Miyazawa Kenji's wonderful tale about the Crow Wars. […] [As] I was soaring in formation at an altitude of two thousand meters, I recalled the Crow Captain lifting off from his honey locust tree, and taking to wing to do battle. I am Crow! I thought, ecstatically. The visibility was good, and since this was the very last of the special training
flights, I flew in all directions to my heart’s content.

Related Characters: Haruki #1 Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani, Ruth, Naoko “Nao” Yasutani, Haruki Yasutani / Nao’s Father

Related Symbols: Crows

Page Number and Citation: 258

Explanation and Analysis:

[…] I climbed up on [my chair] and then onto my desk, and I stood there, tall and straight. Then, when everybody was looking, I flipped back my hoodie.

A gasp went around the room that sent shivers up my spine. The supapawa of my bald and shining head radiated through the classroom and out into the world, a bright bulb, a beacon, beaming light into every crack of darkness on the earth and blinding all my enemies. I put my fists on my hips and watched them tremble, holding up their arms to shield their eyes from my unbearable brightness. I opened my mouth and a piercing cry broke from my throat like an eagle, shaking the earth and penetrating into every corner of the universe. I watched my classmates press their hands over their ears, and saw the blood run through their fingers as their eardrums shattered.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani

Page Number and Citation: 287-288

Explanation and Analysis:

I have written to you of my decision to die. Here is what I did not tell you. […] [T]he ticking of the clock is the only sound I am able to hear now. Second by second, minute by minute…tick, tick, tick…the small, dry sounds fill every crevice of silence. […] [M]y being is attuned only to one thing, the relentless rhythm of time, marching toward my death.

If I could only smash the clock and stop time from advancing! […] I can almost feel the sturdy metal body crumpling beneath my hands, the glass fracturing, the case cracking open, my fingers digging into the guts, spilling springs and delicate gearing. But no, there is no […] way of stopping time, and so I lie here, paralyzed, listening to the last moments of my life tick by.

I don’t want to die, Maman! I don’t want to die!

Related Characters: Haruki #1 Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani, Naoko “Nao” Yasutani

Related Symbols: Watches/Clocks

Page Number and Citation: 322

Explanation and Analysis:

But the fact is, you’re a lie. You’re just another stupid story I made up out of
thin air because I was lonely and needed someone to spill my guts to. I wasn’t
ready to die yet and needed a raison d’etre. I shouldn’t be mad at you but I am! Because now you’re letting me down, too.

The fact is, I’m all alone.

[…] Everyone I believed in is dying. My old Jiko is dying, my dad is probably already dead by now, and I don’t even believe in myself anymore.

Related Characters: Naoko “Nao” Yasutani (speaker), Jiko Yasutani, Ruth, Haruki Yasutani / Nao’s Father

Page Number and Citation: 340

Explanation and Analysis:

Jiko Yasutani Character Timeline in A Tale for the Time Being

The timeline below shows where the character Jiko Yasutani appears in A Tale for the Time Being. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Sexual Perversion and Violence Theme Icon

Before Nao dies, she wants to tell someone the life story of her 104-year-old great-grandmother, Jiko. This is what Nao’s diary will contain. Jiko is a Zen Buddhist nun. She was... (full context)

...should start, since she has so much to say. She says that when she texted Jiko this question, Jiko replied, “You should start where you are.” So, Nao takes her advice... (full context)

The Difficulty of Communication Theme Icon

(2) Nao writes that Jiko really enjoys it when Nao tells her details about modern life, since Jiko has renounced... (full context)

When Jiko was ordained, she took a vow “to save all beings,” which meant that “she agreed... (full context)

...vapid life, just like everyone else around her. The only person who is different is Jiko, since she is the only one who doesn’t waste time. Nao wonders if wasted time... (full context)

Nao wonders how anyone can search for lost time. She texts the question to Jiko, who replies with a poetic verse in Japanese that says, “For the time being,/ Words... (full context)

...important even though they were written more than 800 years ago. He is one of Jiko’s favorite authors. While Jiko has written many books, too, they are all out of print,... (full context)

Nao says that Jiko is “supercareful” with her time and does everything really slowly. Jiko likes to joke that... (full context)

(6) Nao struggles to understand why she feels compelled to write down Jiko’s story. She thinks that she wants to do it because she loves Jiko and wants... (full context)

...her diary being thrown away, since that makes writing more interesting. She also knows that Jiko won’t care if her life stories get lost since, she is a Buddhist who understands... (full context)

...that she wants to somehow help or save Nao. Ruth does an Amazon search for Jiko Yasutani but doesn’t find anything, just like Nao said. Ruth does, however, find Dogen’s book... (full context)

...“Sometimesup / Sometimesdown,” which Ruth assumes must be an answer to the question Nao texted Jiko—the question about where the elevator of enlightenment takes its riders. The nun goes on to... (full context)

...go to a high school for low-achieving kids. Nao would rather become a nun like Jiko, but her parents insist that she graduates from high school first. (full context)

...says, she was bullied relentlessly. She says that she wouldn’t have survived the bullying if Jiko hadn’t taught her how to develop her “superpower.” (full context)

(6) Nao writes about Jiko’s belief that everything that happens to a person is because of his or her karma—a... (full context)

...who might have been victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Ruth hadn’t found anyone named Jiko or Naoko, and since she didn’t know Nao’s parents’ names, she had spent her time... (full context)

...the next section in her diary with a family tree. She explains that her great-grandmother Jiko had three children: a son, Haruki #1, and two daughters, Sugako and Ema. Haruki #1... (full context)

...#1 was a student of philosophy before he became a kamikaze pilot. When Nao told Jiko that Haruki was also interested in philosophy and suicide, just like his uncle Haruki #1,... (full context)

...missing or dead in the earthquake and tsunami, and Ruth is relieved. She looks for Jiko Yasutani and Zen temples but once again draws a blank. Finally, she looks for “Chuo... (full context)

(6) Nao thinks of the Wisdom Heart Sutra, which Jiko explained to her. The last lines of the sutra mean, “gone completely beyond, awakened, hurray…”... (full context)

(3) A week after this, Jiko unexpectedly came to visit. When Nao opened the door, she first thought there were two... (full context)

...conversation until Nao’s mother came home from work. Nao’s mother seemed too surprised to find Jiko there, so Nao suspected that her mother organized the whole thing. After dinner, Nao snuck... (full context)

...she felt everyone watching her. Then, Nao’s mother told her in a bright voice that Jiko had invited Nao to spend her summer vacation at Jiko’s temple in Miyagi. Nao’s father... (full context)

...Japan, was one of the regions that was hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami. Jiko’s temple was located somewhere along its coastline. Fukushima prefecture, where the nuclear power station had... (full context)

The scholar who wrote the article is discussing the work of Jiko Yasutani as a groundbreaking feminist author who writes autobiographical fiction. Ruth would need a subscription... (full context)

(1) Nao writes that Jiko lives on the side of a mountain, in a tiny temple near the coastline. Nao’s... (full context)

...realized that her father was soon going to leave her in this lonely place with Jiko, whom she barely knew. Nao began to cry, but her father didn’t even notice—he was... (full context)

...have all sorts of syndromes like ADHD and manic depression, as well as suicidal tendencies. Jiko told her that zazen meditation might not cure her, but that it would help her... (full context)

...summer too. She thought it would be better for him than seeing psychologists. After dinner, Jiko invited Nao to have a bath with her. Nao felt immense compared to Jiko’s ancient,... (full context)

Over the next few weeks, Nao observed Jiko and Muji following all kinds of “crazy routines,” even when it came to washing their... (full context)

(4) One day, while Nao was scrubbing Jiko’s back in the bath, Jiko asked her if she was angry, and Nao didn’t answer.... (full context)

The next morning, Nao went to Jiko and admitted that she was angry. Nao went on to give her “an executive summary... (full context)

...She returns to the academic archive where she found the excerpt from the article on Jiko’s fiction, and she clicks on a link to pay and order the complete article. However,... (full context)

...and her reader are friends, she will share something personal that has really helped her: Jiko’s instructions for zazen meditation, which Nao and Jiko refer to as Nao’s “superpower.” (full context)

Nao relays the sad story of how Jiko became a nun. Jiko’s son, Haruki #1, was 19 and studying French literature when he... (full context)

...this kind of extreme misery feels like a fish flopping around under one’s heart, and Jiko agreed. Jiko said that the sadness she felt for Haruki #1 was more like a... (full context)

...Nao says that although it sounds simple, she struggles to do it without getting distracted. Jiko says that this is fine, since minds do think—but one must pay attention when this... (full context)

...they are originally from Miyagi, Japan. Ruth is surprised by this coincidence. She thinks about Jiko’s temple, which might or might not still be clinging to the mountainside in Miyagi. Ruth... (full context)

(1) One morning, Jiko decided to take Nao on a picnic to the beach. When they stopped by the... (full context)

The yankis were still outside when Nao and Jiko left the store. They started yelling rude comments, and Nao placed herself in front to... (full context)

(2) At the beach, Jiko asked Nao if she has ever “bullied a wave” and asked Nao to try it.... (full context)

(3) Nao watched some surfers on the ocean, and she told Jiko that one of them fell and then got back up. Jiko says, “Up, down, same... (full context)

Jiko said that the surfer and the wave are also the same: a person rises up... (full context)

(1) With Jiko’s help, Nao felt stronger in her body and mind by the end of summer—she felt... (full context)

(2) In August, Jiko and Muji cleaned and prepared the temple for Obon, which they believed was the time... (full context)

(4) The next morning, Nao sneaked off to Jiko’s study, Nao’s favorite room at the temple. It overlooked the garden and had a low... (full context)

(5) In his last letter to Jiko, Haruki #1 wrote that he would be dying the following day. He asked Jiko not... (full context)

(1) Several people turned up at the temple for the Obon ceremony. Jiko sat in a golden throne in the altar room, and after a lot of chanting... (full context)

(2) After the ceremony, Nao saw that the door to Jiko’s study was open, and she went inside to investigate. She saw an old man kneeling... (full context)

(3) The Obon festival lasted for four days. After all the visitors left, Jiko, Muji, and Nao visited all the parishioners’ houses to do Buddhist services in front of... (full context)

...Soon, Nao’s summer vacation was almost done, which she was very sad about. Muji and Jiko threw her a farewell party with pizza and chocolates. Later that night, Nao told Jiko... (full context)

Nao asked to know if Haruki #1 hated Americans, and Jiko replied that he only hated war and the thought of killing others. She explained that... (full context)

...student soldiers knew they would die. However, the boy who gave the speech survived, and Jiko said that he now comes to the temple every year at Obon to apologize. Nao... (full context)

...opened it and saw that it was empty except for a tiny slip of paper. Jiko appeared at the door, and she said that she had been very surprised when she... (full context)

Jiko handed Nao a freezer bag full of letters written by Haruki #1, and she told... (full context)

December 10, 1943. In Haruki #1’s first letter, he wrote to Jiko that although it had just been a week since he left to the navy airbase,... (full context)

Haruki #1 recalled that Jiko had cried when she found out he’d have to join the army, which had irritated... (full context)

...16, 1944. In his next letter, Haruki #1 wrote that he was very excited that Jiko would be visiting him soon. He also wrote that K disappeared, and the officers then... (full context)

...1944. In the next letter, Haruki #1 wrote that he was very happy to see Jiko and his sisters. He recalled Jiko’s shocked expression when she saw him, and he apologized... (full context)

...that he had volunteered to be a Special Attack Force (or kamikaze) pilot. He asked Jiko to forgive him and begged her to understand why he did this. One reason Haruki... (full context)

...gave him as much pleasure as sitting zazen. He concluded the letter by saying that Jiko would receive another “official” letter from him, but that those would not be his last... (full context)

...thinks that the best way to die would be to jump off a cliff near Jiko’s temple. She would think fondly about Jiko and jump into the Pacific Ocean, where her... (full context)

...summoned up her “superpower” and started zazen. Immediately, her classmates seemed like the mosquitoes that Jiko taught her to ignore. One of her classmates got nervous that Nao wasn’t moving, so... (full context)

...show and one that told the truth. He wanted to get the true one to Jiko, but he wasn’t sure how he would be able to do this. (full context)

...mouth. Haruki #1 wrote that he could stand all this bullying only by thinking that Jiko would know the truth about it someday, although he didn’t know how to get these... (full context)

Secret French Diary 6. Haruki #1 was planning to slip these pages to Jiko when she visited, but he couldn’t bear to do it after seeing her pained expression... (full context)

...badly in the war and that there might be an American invasion soon. He asked Jiko to be careful and consider moving to the countryside. (full context)

Haruki #1 felt silly about the fanciful ideas he wrote in his official letter to Jiko, in which he compared himself to the Crow Captain. He remembered how the Crow Captain... (full context)

...this was his farewell note. He would like to somehow get this secret diary to Jiko, but he didn’t dare to—if it were to be discovered, it would jeopardize the pension... (full context)

...to take these pages with him to the bottom of the sea. He trusted that Jiko already knew the things he had written, since she knew him so well. Haruki #1... (full context)

(1) After Nao’s decided to commit suicide, everything that Jiko had told her about time started to make sense to her. Nao appreciated every moment... (full context)

...was with the hentai, and she began to cry because she thought it might be Jiko, who she missed very much. Just then, the hentai did something that hurt Nao a... (full context)

Nao hurried home. She wanted to find her father and go to Jiko’s temple, and she hoped that Jiko would be absolutely fine by the time they reached.... (full context)

...just like her father only cared about “his own stupid life.” Nao hasn’t written about Jiko’s life, and now, Jiko is probably dead—Nao has wasted the time she had. Nao’s father,... (full context)

...and that time has robbed the words of their meanings. When Ruth surfaces, she sees Jiko, who hands her glasses to Ruth. Immediately, she experiences Jiko’s memories, but Ruth wants to... (full context)

Ruth tells Haruki that Nao is at the train station, on her way to see Jiko. Ruth wants to tell Haruki more, but she is transported again and finds herself on... (full context)

...the temple, Nao and Haruki found a big crowd of people who had come because Jiko was on her deathbed—these included some parishioners, nuns and priests from other temples, and even... (full context)

However, it seemed like Jiko had something to say. She called for Muji, who helped her sit up and then... (full context)

Slowly, Jiko wrote a single kanji on the paper, which meant “to live.” Right after, she lay... (full context)

The reporters and the priests debated the meaning of Jiko’s final words, “to live.” No one really understood this except Nao and her dad, and... (full context)

...little cemetery in Whaletown to tidy up her parents’ graves. After reading Nao’s account of Jiko’s funeral, Ruth wishes that she’d had a more elaborate ceremony to commemorate Masako’s passing. Her... (full context)

Some days after Jiko’s funeral, Haruki and Nao read the translation of Haruki #1’s French diary. When they got... (full context)

...them wants to kill themselves. Nao promises to buy a new notebook and write about Jiko, like she’d initially planned to in this diary. She doesn’t want to forget any details... (full context)

...must be still writing, and she hopes that she will soon finish her book on Jiko’s life, so that Ruth can read it. She says that “not-knowing” has its charm since... (full context)

Ruth writes that Jiko told her in a dream that there are several moments in the single snap of... (full context)

Ruth writes that the name of Jiko’s temple was Jigenji, and the name of the mountain it was on was Hiyuzan. Long... (full context)

A Tale for the Time Being

Jiko Yasutani Character Analysis

Jiko Yasutani Quotes in A Tale for the Time Being

Part I, Chapter 3: Nao Quotes

Part II, Chapter 6: Nao Quotes

Part II, Chapter 8: Nao Quotes

Part II, Chapter 9: Ruth Quotes

Part II, Chapter 13: Haruki #1’s Letters Quotes

Part III, Chapter 3: Nao Quotes

Part III, Chapter 7: Haruki #1’s Secret French Diary Quotes

Part III, Chapter 9: Nao Quotes

Jiko Yasutani Character Timeline in A Tale for the Time Being