Introduction.
Mieko Kawakami’s “The Yellow House” highlights the nature of “difficulties in living” by depicting poverty, crime, and relationships with pseudo-families in the historical background of Tokyo in the 1990s. Through this story, we witness the structural problems of society and the desperate individuals caught up in them. Below are some of the points that particularly impressed me.
Chaos and the Transformation of Crime in the 1990s
The 1990s, the backdrop of the story, was a time of continuous social turmoil in Japan, with the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Sarin gas attack on the subway, while the country was still reeling from the effects of the bursting bubble economy. In this chaotic situation, the film vividly depicts how people like Hana and the others, who were relegated to the periphery of society, survived.
Particularly impressive is the graphic depiction of the process through the latter half of the story in which Hana gradually turns to card crimes that can earn her a high amount of money in order to support the lives of four women, including herself, who live like a real family, albeit a pseudo family. The psychological portrayal is so realistic that it made me keenly aware of “how ordinary people step into crime, and how, once they do, there is no turning back.
Regarding the underworld, the film also depicts the changing times in which people who were once protected by the “order” of gangsters are now being sucked into the chaotic amoeba-like special scams of the modern era. The film also depicts how the world in which people like Hana and others live is becoming increasingly unstable and dangerous as the forms of crime are transforming from organized to decentralized and intangible threats.
Hana struggles to make money, but her deep-rooted goodness compensates for the troubles around her, and she is forced to repeat her life starting all over again. This endless loop seems to symbolize the “stuck structure” that many people face even today.
Relationship with Miko Huang: Contradictory Emotions and Salvation
A theme throughout the story is the relationship between the main character, Hana, and Ms. Huang Miko. Although not explicitly stated in the story, Ms. Huang Miko has difficulty making rational decisions, probably due to her borderline intelligence, and Hana therefore has a strong feeling that she must protect her. However, she has mixed feelings when faced with the reality that Hana is the one who actually earns the money to support the pseudo-family and those around her do nothing.
Hana is frustrated with Ms. Huangmiko and sometimes takes it out on her, but behind her is a sense of responsibility that she has to do something about it and a conflict over why it is only me. At the end of the story, Hana is tired of protecting Ms. Huangmiko and halfheartedly abandons her and leaves her. Later, however, she remembers how much Ms. Huangmiko saved her when she was in middle school and reunited with her again. The film skillfully depicts the contradictions and redemption of human relationships and the complexities of love.
Money and the difficulty of living
Money is also a major theme in The Yellow House throughout.
The main character, Hana, grows up in a poor family but tries to live life to the fullest. On the other hand, Momoko, who is forced to live the same life as Hana, depicts a situation in which “children born into wealthy families also suffer from the vanity and worldliness of their parents” and confronts the reality that having money does not necessarily mean happiness.
Kawakami’s own dialogue on the Yellow House is up on YouTube, and I was very impressed by the fact that he stated that for those without money, money = time for survival.
If I had the money, could I travel this year? Not in the dimension of “Can I pay this month’s rent? Can I pay my children’s school fees? How old will I be? The question is directly related to the time of survival.
Conclusion: Questions posed by Mieko Kawakami
The Yellow House” realistically depicts how people live and fall apart in the light and shadow of the 1990s. At the same time, through themes such as poverty, boundary intelligence, and the shape of the family, the film raises universal questions that are pertinent to contemporary society.
I personally felt that what is left after reading this story is not just sadness, but a warmth that somehow makes one believe in the potential of human beings.
I have read three of Ms. Kawakami’s works this time, following “Milk and Eggs” and “All the Lovers at Midnight”. Although they all share the same first-person female point of view, it is amazing how Kawakami is able to depict different themes in each work.
All Midnight Lovers impressions were previously listed here.
I also purchased “Heaven,” which the reviewer described as a graphic depiction of a bullying situation, and I would like to read that as well.
