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Yoshiko
Yozo’s father is a Japanese politician who lives with his family in the countryside but spends several weeks each month in a townhouse in Tokyo. The novel implies that he’s a fairly strict and unforgiving man, which is why he cuts ties with Yozo after Yozo tries to die by suicide—something that leads to a scandal and draws negative attention to his father’s political career. Even though Yozo’s father doesn’t communicate with him after he tries to die by suicide, Yozo’s brothers continue to send Yozo small amounts of money. Yozo never sees his father again, ultimately learning of his death after being released from a psychiatric ward.
Yozo’s Father Quotes in No Longer Human
The No Longer Human quotes below are all either spoken by Yozo’s Father or refer to Yozo’s Father. 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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The First Notebook Quotes
“How about you, Yozo?” he asked, but I could only stammer uncertainly.
Whenever I was asked what I wanted my first impulse was to answer “Nothing.” The thought went through my mind that it didn’t make any difference, that nothing was going to make me happy.
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The Second Notebook Quotes
I drank the liquor. She did not intimidate me, and I felt no obligation to perform my clownish antics for her. I drank in silence, not bothering to hide the taciturnity and gloominess which were my true nature.
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Get the entire No Longer Human LitChart as a printable PDF.
Yozo’s Father Character Timeline in No Longer Human
The timeline below shows where the character Yozo’s Father appears in No Longer Human. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The First Notebook
...deceiving his family members into thinking he’s a lighthearted, funny boy. Once, though, when his father is about to leave on a business trip, Yozo finds it difficult to please him....
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Yozo’s brother interjects on Yozo’s behalf, telling his father that he should get him a book. His father seems disappointed and angry. Later that...
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The Second Notebook
...a great painter. Upon finishing high school, Yozo wants to attend art school, but his father sends him to a traditional college in Tokyo instead. At first, he lives in the...
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Yozo’s father decides to sell the house in Tokyo, since his political term is about to end....
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The news of Yozo’s failed suicide sweeps through Japan, since his father is a prominent politician. He’s taken to a hospital, where a relative visits him and...
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...“guarantor,” so Yozo reaches out to a man from his hometown—a man he and his father used to call Flatfish. Flatfish agrees to meet him in the nearby city of Yokohama,...
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The Third Notebook: Part Two
...pharmacy for morphine, thus racking up a huge debt. He decides to write to his father and beg for help—and if he doesn’t receive this help, he’ll kill himself. His father...
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...brother and Flatfish come to pick him up, and his brother tells him that their father has died. The family, his brother says, will now support him financially without asking any...
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