Komura

Komura is the protagonist of the story. He is an electronics salesman who lives in Tokyo. Komura's wife decides to divorce Komura five days after the earthquake in Kobe. She cites his lack of care for her, but she appears to have been severely affected by the news coverage of the earthquake's aftermath. The divorce causes Komura to feel significant psychological strain. This causes him to take a week of leave from work and accept his friend's request to deliver a package to Kushiro.

Komura's character is crucial to the exploration of the major themes in this story, particularly that of love versus lust. Komura's wife represents the aspect of his personality that is motivated by love, because the divorce causes him to develop an antisocial personality, whereby he does not feel any interest towards engaging in meaningful conversations with anybody. In contrast, Komura's relationship to Shimao represents...