Gohtaro

Gohtaro is one of the primary characters of the novel. The narrator traces his storyline in the opening chapter “Best Friends.” In the narrative present of this chapter, Gohtaro is 51 years old. A few months prior, Gohtaro learned that his daughter Haruka planned to get married. Her impending wedding has flooded Gohtaro with guilt over the lie he has been telling her for 22 years. When she was just one year old, Haruka’s parents died. Her father Shuichi was Gohtaro’s best friend. In order to make Haruka feel less alone in the world, Gohtaro told Haruka he was her father and her mother had died when she was a little girl. Realizing that she will discover the truth of her parentage when she registers for marriage, Gohtaro becomes determined to visit his late best friend at Funiculi Funicula and record a message from him for Haruka’s...