Chapter 2 Summary

Toru Watanabe is eighteen, a freshman in college, and he lives in a private dormitory in Tokyo, since it's less expensive than an apartment. The only problem with the dorm is its right-wing political philosophy, but for the most part, that doesn't affect day-to-day life. Every morning at six o'clock, the head of the east building and a student assistant raise the Japanese flag and play the national anthem. When he first moves into the dorm, Toru watches the ceremony every morning. Every evening, the flag is lowered, and it seems odd to Toru that at night, no flag is flown to watch over Japan.

The all-male dormitory is horribly filthy, except for Toru's room. Toru's roommate is known as "Storm Trooper" because people think he's a Nazi. Really, he's just a conservative boy who likes things clean and neat and is interested...