A Tale for the Time Being – "to live"

In the final third of Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, old Jiko gives Nao and her father a seemingly simple – yet to them, a difficult – task: “to live” (362). While her final request to her descendants affects them deeply because of their suicidal ideations, it is also Jiko’s final comment on Zen Bhuddism. In the practice of Zen, one must be rather than think about being in order to truly be alive, so, Jiko’s request of Nao and Haruki #2 tells them to stop worrying, stop planning, stop thinking – just to live. Neither Nao or Haruki #2 actively lived in the moment before Jiko’s death, instead, they planned for the moment they would cease being.

After her death, reporters, priests, and those who admired Jiko assumed that the meaning of her final writing, just the singular character for the phrase “to live,” was complex, deep, and mysterious. However, Nao and Haruki #2 are the only ones who understood the true intention of her final word. She simply tells them to be alive. By doing so, she saved them while simultaneously saving herself. Or, as Nao seemingly fails to understand because of her sadness, Jiko yanked them into the elevator with her at the last moment (365).

The phrase “to live,” is simple, yet is similar to the idea that those who wish to find Zen must “just do it.” We must be in time and time must be with being, as Jiko verbally adds to her final written request: “‘For now,’ she said to the both of us. ‘For the time being’” (362).

When Ruth read the email Haruki #2 wrote to his former acquaintance, she (and us readers) learn that both Nao and her father took what Jiko said to heart. She saved them, even if Nao didn’t understand that at first. Nao moved to Canada for college and Haruki #2 created a highly-sought after start-up that erased the online presences of those who employed his services (382). This technology allowed Nao, Haruki #2, and Jiko to all exist in peace – in this world and the next. Nao and her dad got fresh starts in life, and Jiko was erased from the internet – giving her final peace in her death.