What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

Tomoka Fujiki is a primary character. Her storyline is featured in Chapter 1. Tomoka is 21 years old and grew up in the Japanese countryside. After finishing school, she moved away to Tokyo to pursue her college degree. She was desperate to leave her hometown, because it was rural and isolated, with “just one lonely shop all by itself on a main road” (13). She believed that moving to the city would offer her a more glamorous and vibrant life. After she finished college, she took a job at the general merchandise store Eden, because it was the only way that she could remain in Tokyo and avoid moving back home with her parents. Over time, however, working at Eden has dissolved Tomoka’s fantasies about living in Tokyo. The work isn’t satisfying and she isn’t connected to a wider network of people. She spends most of her time either in the women’s clothing department working her shifts, or at home alone in her apartment. She longs to make a change in her life, but is unsure how to do so.

Tomoka’s friendship with her coworker Kiriyama changes how she sees herself and her life. Kiriyama is open with Tomoka about his own dissatisfaction and work to change his circumstances.