Summary

The novel is set in Tokyo, Japan, in a café called Funiculi Funicula. Chapter 1, “The Lovers,” begins in media res, with a man and the woman in the café. They are lovers and coworkers. The woman is named Fumiko, and the man is named Goro. On the phone, when Goro asked Fumiko to meet with him, he said that they needed to have a ‘serious conversation.’ Fumiko thought that Goro was going to propose marriage to her. They go to the usual café that they like, but it is closed, so they go to Funiculi Funicula, which they have never visited before. However, what he actually says in the café is that they need to break up, as he is moving to the United States for a new job. Fumiko feels so surprised and indignant in that moment that she says nothing at...