The place is Tokyo, Japan — the land of the rising Sun. The era: 1960s, a time during which a lot of Japanese students protested established order. Japan was going through a change, resistance, aftermath of the horrifying nuclear holocaust. Toru Watanabe, the narrator who is often called Watanabe by his peers has a strong voice and is a very likeable character despite his highs and lows and his scholastic mediocrity. I particularly like his interest in American literature given Japans past with the US in that timeframe.
