Kido’s Search for a Self

A Man

Kido’s investigation of Hara intersects with anxiety about mortality, prejudice, professional duty, and the limits of his own self-understanding.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Stable Life Disturbed A Stable Life Disturbed from "A Man". The Lawyer’s Unease Ordinary life feels fragile Kido finds himself newly attentive to family, death, and the possibility that his work and choices may not…

A Stable Life Disturbed from "A Man". The Lawyer’s Unease Ordinary life feels fragile Kido finds himself newly attentive to family, death, and the possibility that his work and choices may not…

The Lawyer’s Unease Ordinary life feels fragile Kido finds himself newly attentive to family, death, and the possibility that his work and choices may not define him as securely as he assumed. A wider threat Earthquake trauma and rising xenophobia make his previously quiet Zainichi identity harder to treat as irrelevant.

The Wake and the Question The Wake and the Question from "A Man". Fear of Disappearing A friend dies young After attending a lawyer friend’s wake, Kido imagines his own death and how Sota would remember him.

The Wake and the Question from "A Man". Fear of Disappearing A friend dies young After attending a lawyer friend’s wake, Kido imagines his own death and how Sota would remember him.

Fear of Disappearing A friend dies young After attending a lawyer friend’s wake, Kido imagines his own death and how Sota would remember him. A changed question His youthful question of who he is becomes the middle-aged question of whether he made the right choices.

Prejudice Becomes Personal Prejudice Becomes Personal from "A Man". A Citizen Under Threat Historical memory returns Kido considers the massacre after the 1923 earthquake and fears what renewed nationalist rhetoric could mean…

Prejudice Becomes Personal from "A Man". A Citizen Under Threat Historical memory returns Kido considers the massacre after the 1923 earthquake and fears what renewed nationalist rhetoric could mean…

A Citizen Under Threat Historical memory returns Kido considers the massacre after the 1923 earthquake and fears what renewed nationalist rhetoric could mean for his family. No single identity is enough He resists being reduced to his ancestry even as he recognizes that others may use it to define him.

The Investigation as Shelter The Investigation as Shelter from "A Man". Thinking Through Hara A safe distance Kido devotes himself to Makoto Hara’s past because another person’s story allows him to approach pain he cannot face…

The Investigation as Shelter from "A Man". Thinking Through Hara A safe distance Kido devotes himself to Makoto Hara’s past because another person’s story allows him to approach pain he cannot face…

Thinking Through Hara A safe distance Kido devotes himself to Makoto Hara’s past because another person’s story allows him to approach pain he cannot face directly. A risky identification He recognizes that compassion for Hara can become idealization. Each new fact tests whether he is seeking truth or an escape.

A Belated Wish to Meet A Belated Wish to Meet from "A Man". The Case Ends in Grief A mountain visit Kido goes to a worksite like the one where Hara died and imagines the ordinary homecoming Hara once wanted.

A Belated Wish to Meet from "A Man". The Case Ends in Grief A mountain visit Kido goes to a worksite like the one where Hara died and imagines the ordinary homecoming Hara once wanted.

The Case Ends in Grief A mountain visit Kido goes to a worksite like the one where Hara died and imagines the ordinary homecoming Hara once wanted. Recognition without possession He realizes that his search was partly an attempt to meet a person who could not answer. Understanding Hara brings Kido closer to his own life.

After the 2011 earthquake

September 2013

After reports of anti-Korean demonstrations

2013–early 2014

April 2014