after the quake

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content.

Junpei is a 36-year-old writer and longtime college friend of Sayoko. The novel begins with Junpei telling Sala, Sayoko’s four-year-old daughter, a story about a bear named Masakichi who has no friends and sells honey in town. It is two o’clock in the morning, and Sala has been having repeated nightmares after seeing too much coverage of the Kobe earthquake on television. She dreams of the “Earthquake Man” (108), who tries to trap her in a box. Sayoko is exhausted and called Junpei to help Sala fall back asleep. She avoids contacting her ex-husband, Takatsuki. Sayoko apologizes for interrupting Junpei’s late-night writing session, but he tells her not to worry, as there’s no longer a market for short stories. He suggests a field trip to the zoo so that Sala can meet a real bear. Sayoko asks Junpei to invite Takatsuki so that all four of them can spend time together.

The narrative flashes back to Junpei’s years at Waseda University, where he first met Takatsuki and Sayoko. Junpei wanted to become a novelist but told his parents that he would major in business to appease them.