Analysis / Hanasaku Iroha

The appearance of the bird Ohana encounters throughout the story may be a visual motif/ literary reference to 'A White Heron' a short story by Sarah Orne Jewett. From Wikipeida: "It is a story of a young city girl named Sylvia, who came to live with her grandmother in the country. She meets a young ornithologist hunter seeking to find a rare bird he has heard has been spotted in the area. As the story progresses Sylvia is challenged with whether or not she should tell the hunter she saw the bird. She also discovers her passion for country life and her love and values for the animals that inhabit it." Regardless it's a neat and not especially long story with similar themes and well worth checking out.