Part II, Chapter 2, Tengo Summary

As Tengo writes, he listens to Janacek's Sinfonietta. He grabs a newspaper which lists the details of Fuka-Eri's disappearance. Tengo knows now that it is a publicity stunt, meant to attract more attention.

At the school, a strange man named Mr. Ushikawa comes to speak to Tengo, and hands him a card. The card says Ushikawa is from the New Japan Foundation for the Advancement of Scholarship and the Arts. The organization provides stipends for talented and creative people to pursue research unhindered by having to make a living at the same tine. Tengo is under consideration for such a grant as an aspiring novelist. Where the funding comes from is not revealed, but Ushikawa intimates that knows there is something going on between Fuka-Eri and Tengo, and the press would enjoy speculating.

Komatsu thinks the Foundation...