Who is the narrarotor of the story "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"?

In "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket" by Yasunari Kawabata, the narrator of the story is someone who witnessed the interaction between the young children, one of which caught a grasshopper near a playground.
Because of the language used, it can be assumed that the narrator is someone who is familiar with the school and spends a great deal of time there, as they refer to specific locations such as the "upper school" and "playground." The actions that the narrator describes suggest that, at the time of the event, they were young:

Walking along the tile-roofed wall of the university, I turned aside and approached the upper school. Behind the white board fence of the school playground, from a dusky clump of bushes under the black cherry trees, an insect's voice could be heard. Walking more slowly and listening to that voice, and furthermore reluctant to part with it, I turned right so as not to leave the playground behind. When Iturned to the left, the fence gave way to another embankment planted with orange trees. At the corner, I exclaimed with surprise. My eyes gleaming at what they saw up ahead, I hurried forward with short steps.

In this description, the narrator shows curiosity, a desire to stay near the playground, and excitement upon seeing a group of children with lanterns. The author captures the whimsy of childhood in this passage, which suggests that the narrator was young at the time of the actual event.
However, the story is written as a retrospective. The language is nuanced, and the lesson that the narrator is sharing suggests that a great deal of growth has taken place between the time of the event and the time in which the story is being told. This reveals that the narrator is now an adult who has gained decades worth of wisdom and experience since the time of the event.