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Thousand Cranes
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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “Her Mother’s Lipstick”
Part 4, Chapter 1 Summary
Kikuji wakes and thinks about the Shino water jar that Fumiko gave to him, worrying that he may be falling in love with Mrs. Ota posthumously through the idealized memories of her evoked by the tea ware. He tries to phone Fumiko but learns that she’s sold her house and moved away without telling him. He manages to track her down to where she’s staying with a friend, and she seems pleased that he made the effort. Kikuji invites Fumiko to visit him at his home, and she accepts, saying that she has been thinking of gifting him another piece of Shino tea ware that belonged to her mother.
Kikuji expects Fumiko, but it is Chikako who turns up at his door. She claims that, as the person organizing the match between him and Yukiko, it is her right to scold and manage him. She again berates Kikuji for having accepted the Shino water jar from Fumiko and is unrepentant when Kikuji confronts her about the part she played in pushing Mrs. Ota to suicide. She calls Mrs. Ota a witch and accuses her of using her death to push Fumiko and Kikuji together. This idea disturbs Kikuji despite himself. As they argue, and Kikuji again insists that he has no interest in marrying Yukiko, his maid informs him that Fumiko has arrived but that she will leave if he’s busy.
Part 4, Chapter 2 Summary
Kikuji greets Fumiko, who says that she’s fine with encountering Chikako, although the atmosphere is very tense as they greet each other. Chikako says that since she’s here to air out the tea cottage, the three of them should use Mrs. Ota’s Shino water jar in a tea ceremony. Kikuji protests, but Chikako says that it will do them good to share memories of Mrs. Ota, and Fumiko consents. Chikako pointedly refers to the marriage she is hoping to arrange between Kikuji and Yukiko as though it is already a sure thing.
Part 4, Chapter 3 Summary
As Chikako leaves to prepare the cottage, Fumiko takes out the Shino tea bowl that she brought to show Kikuji. He observes the stain that supposedly came from Mrs. Ota’s lipstick. Although she intended to give him the bowl, Fumiko ultimately misses her chance and the moment passes. She explains that she was reluctant to get in touch with Kikuji before she had managed to find a job and a settled residence because until then she has nothing. Fumiko found it easy to sell her mother’s house through friends, and Kikuji admits that he’s been meaning to sell his own house, which is why he has neglected to invest in repairs. Fumiko says that he will likely fix up the house when he marries Yukiko, but Kikuji denies that the match is set. Fumiko says that he should agree to marry Yukiko as he’s already suffered enough for Mrs. Ota’s sake.
Part 4, Chapter 4 Summary
Chikako conducts the tea ceremony for Fumiko and Kikuji using the Shino water jar. The atmosphere is very tense with Chikako continually taking veiled jabs at Fumiko and her mother. Fumiko ignores the bait, and Kikuji wonders at Fumiko’s impassivity and the fact that he feels no urge to defend her.
After serving the tea, Chikako demands that Kikuji give his final answer to Yukiko’s suit. He definitively rejects Yukiko and refuses to move forward with the match. Chikako is understatedly furious and leaves, inviting Fumiko to walk with her. Fumiko agrees and leaves with Chikako although she admits to Kikuji that she is afraid.
Part 4 Analysis
The latter two parts of Thousand Cranes parallel the events of Part 2. In Part 4, Chikako hosts an impromptu tea ceremony for Kikuji and Fumiko that mirrors the one she previously held for Kikuji and Yukiko. Whereas she staged the previous meeting in order to push the two participants toward a match, she here attempts to drive the two young people apart. Chikako’s attempts to control the characters are reflected in her use of Mrs. Ota’s tea jar. The narrator observes that “[a] jar that had been Mrs. Ota’s was now being used by Chikako” (58). This inverts their history in which a man who had been Chikako’s partner became Mrs. Ota’s. Chikako’s use of the jar therefore symbolizes her desire to regain control of romantic narratives. She is unsuccessful in both instances, as Kikuji ultimately rejects Yukiko and develops feelings for Fumiko.
Kawabata reinforces Chikako’s desire to regain control through the fact that Kikuji’s romantic choices mimic those of his father many years prior. Kikuji’s father discarded Chikako after a brief fling and fell for Mrs. Ota. Similarly, Kikuji rejects Chikako’s choice, Yukiko, after glancing consideration, and continues to pursue Mrs. Ota’s daughter, Fumiko. The sting of failure and the reopening of old wounds contribute to Chikako’s vitriol in lashing out at Fumiko. Just as Kikuji’s father failed to protect Mrs. Ota from Chikako’s jealous campaign of harassment, so too does Kikuji feel no impulse to defend Fumiko from Chikako’s barbs. This highlights the theme of Legacy: Imperfect Transmission and Inevitability as Kikuji’s reproduction of his father’s legacy is presented as inevitable, underscoring the novel’s wider reflections on what should and should not be inherited in the context of post-war Japan.
Kawabata further explores this theme through the interactions between Kikuji and Fumiko. In Part 4, Chapter 3, when Kikuji observes the lipstick stain on the Shino tea bowl that Fumiko shows him, Kawabata portrays posthumous erotic interaction between Kikuji and Mrs. Ota. The lipstick stain symbolizes the ghost of a kiss, but Fumiko does not yet give Kikuji the bowl, disrupting his chance to continue his erotic relationship with Mrs. Ota. Mrs. Ota’s romantic legacy, passed onto Fumiko through the bowl, pauses abruptly in this chapter; this anticipates the fact that Kikuji only realizes his love for Fumiko once she smashes the bowl in Part 5, Chapter 4. They go on to discuss the houses that they have inherited, now both sold or dilapidated, reinforcing the sense that the legacies of their parents are being halted.
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By Yasunari Kawabata
