Shigeko

Shigeko is the five-year-old daughter of Shizuko, the journalist who takes Yozo in after he runs away from Flatfish's house. She is the only character in the novel who offers Yozo a relationship of pure, uncomplicated affection, calling him 'Daddy' with no show of hesitation. Her innocent presence provides a brief period of domestic happiness for Yozo, but her simple wish for her real father back reveals the impossibility of his ever truly belonging to a family, and her eventual fear of him marks the final collapse of his ability to connect with another human being.

Identity and Introduction

Shigeko is introduced as a small girl of about five, living with her mother Shizuko in an apartment in Koenji. Her father had died three years before the events of the novel. When Yozo first arrives at the apartment, Shigeko has been accustomed to playing in the superintendent's room while her mother is at work, and she is delighted that an interesting 'uncle' has turned up as a new playmate. She quickly becomes attached to him, and within a short time she is calling him 'Daddy' with no show of hesitation.

Life with Yozo

During the period Yozo lives with Shizuko and Shigeko, he spends his days looking after the girl while her mother is at work. He draws cartoons for her, and she becomes his one slight relief from the depression that grips him whenever he thinks of home. Shigeko's presence is the only thing that can make him stop and look down through brimming tears. One day, when Yozo returns home after stealing some of Shizuko's clothes to pawn for drink, he overhears Shigeko asking her mother why he drinks. Shizuko answers that it is not because he likes liquor but because he is too good. Shigeko then asks if all good people drink. When Yozo opens the door a crack, he sees a small white rabbit bounding around the room, with Shigeko and her mother chasing it. He feels that they are happy, that he has been a fool to come between them, and that he might destroy them both if he is not careful. He shuts the door softly and goes to the Ginza, never returning to the apartment.

The Revelation of Trust and Fear

Shigeko's most significant moment in the novel comes when she asks Yozo a question about prayer. She asks, 'Daddy, is it true that God will grant you anything if you pray for it?' Yozo answers that God will grant Shigeko anything she wants, but he does not suppose he has a chance himself. When she asks why, he says it is because he disobeyed what his father told him. Shigeko then says, 'Did you? But everybody says you're so nice.' Yozo realizes that he has been deceiving them all, and that the more he fears people the more he is liked, and the more he is liked the more he fears them. He changes the subject and asks Shigeko what she would like from God. She answers, 'I would like my real Daddy back.' This shocks Yozo so deeply that he feels dizzy. He suddenly sees Shigeko as an enemy, a frightening grown-up who will intimidate him. He realizes that he has been deluding himself into believing that Shigeko at least was safe, but that she too is like the ox which suddenly lashes out with its tail to kill the horsefly on its flank. From that moment on, he knows he will have to be timid even before that little girl.

Thematic Significance

Shigeko represents the possibility of innocent, trusting love that Yozo desperately craves but cannot sustain. Her simple wish for her real father back reveals the fundamental impossibility of Yozo ever truly belonging to a family. Her eventual fear of him, which develops after the incident with the shopkeeper, marks the final collapse of his ability to connect with another human being. She is the last person in the novel to offer Yozo unconditional affection, and her loss is one of the most devastating blows he suffers. The fact that even a child can become a source of fear for him underscores the depth of his alienation and the extent to which his 'disqualification as a human being' has become complete.