Kazumasa Ishimaru

Kazumasa, the novel’s protagonist, is a Japanese man who relocates to São Paulo. When he is a child, Kazumasa is struck by a piece of flying debris, which remains attached to his forehead by some kind of magnetic force. He has good fortune, and wins an incredible amount of money entering Brazilian sweepstakes and lotteries. He is naïve about people and generous with his money; he gives money to anyone who asks for it, not understanding that some people are simply greedy, and not actually in need. Similarly, Kazumasa is innocent and naïve when it comes to corporate greed. He does not understand GGG’s products, though he becomes a majority stockholder when his cousin, Hiroshi, buys stock for him.

Throughout the novel, he looks for a sense of community. When he first arrives in Brazil, he only has his cousin and his...