Summary

Masuji Ono says ruins used to be commonplace in Japan, but now they are being replaced by clusters of houses. Mrs. Kawakami sold out to a corporation. She told Masuji Ono he was her only dependable customer left.

Masuji Ono says he has not seen Shintaro since an episode last winter, at his house, when Masuji Ono was surprised to learn Shintaro had applied for a teaching position without consulting him. He had been Shintaro’s teacher, but Shintaro only asked him to write to the application committee “to dissociate him from Masuji Ono’s influence” (p. 103). Masuji Ono says he did not answer Shintaro in the end, he merely turned his back until Shintaro left without any dignity.

Masuji Ono says he can explain his actions with Shintaro in light of Noriko’s miai, or wedding negotiation supper. In a scene before this supper...