Kazu Mori

Kazu Mori is the protagonist and first-person narrator of Tokyo Ueno Station. In the present-day timeline of the novel, he is a ghost living in Tokyo's Ueno Park, reflecting on the events of his life. Kazu grew up one of eight children in the town of Sōma in Fukushima Prefecture. He begins working right after middle school to help support his family and travels around the neighboring towns working various jobs throughout young adulthood. He meets and marries Setsuko and they have two children, Yoko and Kōichi. Kazu continues to work jobs away from home while his children grow up, predominantly in Tokyo. He returns infrequently and regrets how little time he spends with them.

These regrets are exacerbated by Kōichi's death at just 21 years old. This event causes Kazu tremendous emotional distress as he reckons with grief, guilt, and contrition, having never known...