Part III, Chapter 21, Tengo Summary

Kumi Adachi, the nurse from the sanatorium, calls Tengo late at night. Tengo's father has died. Early the next morning, Tengo travels to the sanatorium to discover his father has apparently died of heart failure brought on by the coma. Tengo's father had previously arranged for a simple funeral and cremation for himself. Tengo then meets with a lawyer to go over the papers his father left behind. This includes money and a single photograph. The photograph is of the family, when Tengo was a year or two old.

Tengo also discovers that his father wants to be cremated in his television fee collection uniform. Kumi tells Tengo that sometimes, his father used to tap on the bed railing, like he was knocking on a door.

Part III, Chapter 21, Tengo Analysis

The idea that Tengo's father had...