Abstract: In A Pale View of Hills, Kazuo Ishiguro’s adaptation of the technique known as “empty space,” which is clearly characterized of mono no aware sentiments, in Yasujirō Ozu’s film underscores its tension with the literary and cultural tradition of Japan. The empty space is used by the novel’s narrator as a strategy to help her break away from the emotion and mentality of the self-inflicted spiritual dilemma. Hence, Ishiguro reveals the issue of how the narrator evades her responsibilities while attempting to reconcile with the mistakes made by herself, others, and the community in the past. Through this correlation between fiction and film, Ishiguro expresses the kind of sentimental feelings, originated from the same historical and cultural context as in Yasujirō Ozu’s film, Tokyo Story, but triggered by different emotional tensions, toward the transition from the old to the new orders on the one hand, and, on the other, urges the reader to reflect on the probability that emotions might cause the evasion and confusion of accountabilities in confronting individual and national history.

Key words: Kazuo Ishiguro, A Pale View of Hills, Yasujirō Ozu, Tokyo Story, Mono no Aware