after the quake

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination, pregnancy termination, and substance use. 

In “ufo in kushiro,” Komura is a 31-year-old salesman with a successful career in Tokyo selling high-end electronics to wealthy clients. He is “tall and slim and a stylish dresser” and appears as the archetype of the businessman and breadwinner (3). Initially, his good looks and substantial commissions assured him a life of contentment and security with his wife of five years. Komura’s image as the happy husband drastically changes when his wife abruptly leaves him and describes him as a “chunk of air” (3), suggesting that he has been an unfeeling and vapid partner more concerned with social status than a meaningful existence.

Komura does not regard himself as part of something bigger than himself and his daily routines. Unlike his wife, who is immersed in the tragedy of the Kobe earthquake, a sign of her empathy, Komura does not comprehend how the event has any relevance to her or himself. He rationalizes that they were neither personally affected by the tragedy nor close to anyone who was. While reading the news, he feels detached from the harrowing details of destruction, in which “[a]ll sounds reach[] him as far-off, monotonous echos” (7).