In Haruki Murakami's novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, the cultural values of the characters and their ways are somewhat unreal and outside of the Japanese culture. Murakami is known for having references to non-Japanese writings from examples in his other novels. In the novel, Toru has quit his job and is no rush to find another one. He is totally content with being laid back and doing nothing all day. His wife, Kumiko, is the sole provider in the marriage, and he is also content with this situation. This may seem strange for someone to think about when knowing that Japan is a nation known for having extremely hard and purist workers. The women of the Japanese culture would not normally be the sole providers of the family, but rather Japanese women would have a part-time job until married or they would have a full time career and...