Kafka on the Beach is a coming-of-age story told in a magical realist style. The story concerns two men: Kafka Tamura, a fifteen-year-old boy from Tokyo running away from an emotionally abusive father; and Nakata, an older man who can communicate with cats. These two travel throughout the south of Japan in search of the mysterious entrance to a spiritual realm.

The story begins with Kafka - not his real name - boarding a bus for Shikoku. When he was very young, Kafka's mother left the family, taking his sister with her. Kafka's abusive father prophesied not long after that Kafka would kill him and sleep with his mother. He settles in Takamatsu and spends his days reading in the quaint Komura Library, owned by the beautiful Ms. Saeki and attended by Oshima, a friendly, esoteric transsexual. All is well until Kafka blacks out one day...