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Stephen Nakane
Naomi’s father is an intelligent, artistic musician. When the government begins imprisoning Japanese Canadians, Father has to put aside his creative endeavors and focus on preserving his family. His ability to look after his children is hindered, though, by his persistent illness, which develops as the government begins dismantling and displacing Japanese Canadian communities. He leaves Naomi and Stephen in Obasan’s care, and Naomi only sees him again a few times after that, as he spends most of the rest of his life in internment camps and hospitals. Father’s involuntary distance from his family highlights the way racist government policies separate families and undermine people’s health and wellbeing.
Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane) Quotes in Obasan
The Obasan quotes below are all either spoken by Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane) or refer to Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane). 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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Chapter 4 Quotes
“What a beauty,” the RCMP officer said in 1941 when he saw it. He shouted as he sliced back through the wake, “What a beauty! What a beauty!”
That was the last Uncle saw of the boat. And shortly thereafter, Uncle too was taken away, wearing shirt, jacker, and dungarees. He had no provisions, nor did he have any idea where the gunboats were herding him and the other Japanese fishermen in the impounded fishing fleet.
The memories were drowned in a whirlpool of protective silence. Everywhere I could hear the adults whispering, “Kodomo no tame. For the sake of the children…” Calmness was maintained.
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As part of the Canadian government’s campaign against Japanese Canadians, the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, also known as Mounties) confiscate the boats of Japanese fishermen. This robs the men of their livelihoods, and it also devastates Uncle, who built his boat as a labor of love with his brother. The Mountie who drives the boat away recognizes the skill that went into crafting it, and his smug delight at the “beauty” of the boat highlights the disregard that these supposed officers of the peace hold for Japanese Canadians. Naomi draws a parallel between the confiscation of the boats and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque
Chapter 9 Quotes
The house in which we live is in Marpole, a comfortable residential district of Vancouver. It is more splendid than any house I have lived in since. It does not bear remembering. None of this bears remembering.
“You have to remember,” Aunt Emily said. “You are your history. If you cut any of it off you're an amputee. Don't deny the past. Remember everything. If you’re bitter, be bitter. Cry it out! Scream! Denial is gangrene. […]”
All right, Aunt Emily, all right! The house then––the house, if I must remember it today, was large and beautiful.
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Much of the novel is told in flashbacks to Naomi’s childhood. This moment precedes the first of these flashbacks, and Naomi almost decides not to let her narration move into the past. She thinks of her family’s house in Marpole, which evokes strong emotions as the home where she experienced the few uncomplicatedly happy years of her life, and she immediately tries to dismiss this memory and deny the feelings it inspires. Her insistence that “none of this bears remembering” downplays the significance of her memories, but it also hints at the true reason Naomi shuts down the flashback––she herself Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit u
Chapter 25 Quotes
“Why can’t we go home, Stephen?”
“Because. That’s why,” Stephen says crossly, and tells me no more. His eyes are like Father’s, searching.
The orders, given to Uncle and Father in 1945, reach me via Aunt Emily's package in 1972, twenty-seven years later.
The delivery service is slow these days. Understanding is even slower. I still do not see the Canadian face of the author of those words.
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After the Nakanes have finally settled in at Slocan, they are once again uprooted, and Naomi looks to her older brother for guidance. As much as Stephen tries to distance himself from his family, he emulates his elders in his adherence to silence. He refuses to respond to Naomi’s confusion, shutting down her question and telling her “no more.” Naomi’s narration contextualizes this behavior within the family’s tradition of concealing painful information by comparing Stephen to Father. Like Father, Stephen doesn’t fully understand the truth himself, but he will not include Naomi in his “searching” for it. This constant secrecy Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectet
Chapter 26 Quotes
The crowd stands aside, waving steadily, bowing, touching arms here and there, and then they are out of view and I’m clambering up the train steps again as I did three years ago.
We sit in two seats facing each other once more, exactly like the last time. Where is Father? […] Where are we going? Will it be to a city? Remember my doll? Remember Vancouver? The escalators? Electric lights? Streetcars? Will we go home again ever?
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The Nakanes leave Slocan on a train, just like how they arrived. The Nakanes are displaced from their new home “exactly like the last time,” when they were displaced from Vancouver. This parallel indicates that the Canadian government’s mistreatment of its Japanese citizens will not change, even though Canada has won the war against Japan. Naomi yearns for home, and her trepidation about the future blends with her memories of the past. The way Naomi looks to the past as she tries to make sense of her present and future lends credence to Aunt Emily’s belief, voiced earlier in the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim ne
Chapter 39 Quotes
This body of grief is not fit for human habitation. Let there be flesh. The song of mourning is not a lifelong song.
Father, Mother, my relatives, my ancestors, we have come to the forest tonight, to the place where the colors all meet––red and yellow and blue. We have turned and returned to your arms as you turn to earth and form the forest floor.
Tonight we picked berries with the help of your sighted hands. […] See how our stained fingers have read the seasons, and how our serving hands serve you still.
My loved ones, rest in your world of stone. Around you flows the underground stream.
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The final moments of Naomi’s story see her coming to terms with the many deaths of her loved ones. Naomi has tried to escape her grief by denying it, but now she realizes that if she lets herself feel the full weight of that grief, eventually she will be able to move on. In part, this is because she no longer feels that the loved ones she has lost are truly gone. She sees them in the beauty of the landscape and feels their guidance as she carries out simple, heartfelt tasks that her ancestors have performed for generations. In Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusant
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Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane) Character Timeline in Obasan
The timeline below shows where the character Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane) appears in Obasan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Naomi remembers another photograph of Uncle and her Father as young men with a boat they built. They labored over the boat, and the...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...a deliberate blackout. She goes to the living room, where Old Man Gower is promising Father that he will look after the family’s property. Naomi thinks of the air raid drills...
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Chapter 13
...ones would be able to withstand torment. Soon, though, friends and relatives stop visiting, and Father develops a persistent cough.
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One night, Aunt Emily comes by, and Naomi overhears her talking with Father about getting the Nakane grandparents out of somewhere called “Sick Bay.” Emily believes that the...
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Chapter 14
...among Japanese Canadians. The government terms the Nisei “enemy aliens.” Meanwhile, Grandpa Kato, Stephen, and Father are all in poor health.
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...used to idolize the Mounties as protectors of the people and upholders of the law. Father is taken to a camp, and Emily receives a censored letter from Sam (Uncle) reporting...
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Chapter 19
...to the house, though Naomi and Stephen are disappointed when Uncle evades their questions about Father. A few days later, the doctor takes off Stephen’s cast, and Obasan and Nomura-obasan remark...
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Chapter 22
...groggily recovers from her near-death experience. Her narration becomes confused and meandering. Naomi thinks of Father, who is in a hospital with Grandpa Nakane in New Denver. When Stephen comes to...
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Chapter 24
...cot. She goes to see if the old woman has come back, and instead finds Father in the cot. Naomi throws herself into her father’s arms and finally feels safe. Stephen...
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Chapter 25
Almost immediately after Father’s return, the family is split up again. Father and Uncle each receive letters stating that...
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Chapter 26
Over the next few weeks, the residents of Slocan begin to depart. Father disappears, and Naomi doesn’t understand why or where he has gone. When it is time...
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Chapter 30
While the Nakanes are at the Barker farm, they receive no word from Mother. Father sends a few letters, informing them that Grandpa Nakane has died and that Father himself...
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Chapter 31
...its own. When Naomi sees the empty habitat, she thinks of her last letter to Father, which remains unanswered.
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Chapter 32
The news Naomi received that day in the spring was of Father’s death, but she can’t make herself believe it until 1951, when she says the words...
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