Finding the new world order of the present narrative restrictive, with America as the hegemon, both Ono and Stevens recollect memories of their old-world order characterised by monarchical and imperial systems. The concept of nationalism in both the novels pertains to a narrowly defined, or an ethnic one. Sim comments that in his novels Ishiguro “probes and questions a restrictive notion of national identity” (2010, p. 155). Both Ono and Stevens consider their respective nations as unique and superior to the one beyond their borders. For instance, Stevens’ understanding of nationalism is so narrow that every other nation appears to him as “inferior” (Ishiguro, 1989, p. 29). Of course, he is referring to the landscape of these countries, but what is suggestive is that he next connects the “greatness” of his country, “Great Britain”, to the greatness of his professional role as a butler, aspiring to that “greatness” (1989, pp. 28–29). Perhaps, his “sense of restraint”, which to him seems so essential to Britain, in times of “speaking out”, aligns with it as well. In other words, he interrelates his silent approval of his employer’s orders with the quiet restraint of the country, mixing the individual with the collective. He says, for example, that his service to the great men of his country, such as Lord Darlington, entails serving not only the country but the whole of humanity as well.