Tokyo

The novel is set primarily in Tokyo, where Kazu lived off and on most of his adult life. Kazu explains that he came to Tokyo in 1963 in order to build athletic facilities for the 1964 Olympic Games. This was the first in a long line of jobs that keeps Kazu in Tokyo and away from his family. He returns home to Sōma after he retires, but comes back to Tokyo just a few years later when Setsuko dies, at which point he begins living in Ueno Park. The scenes depicting Kazu's experience as a ghost take place in and around Ueno Park/Ueno Station. Aside from this location, Kazu rarely mentions other places he visited in the city throughout his decades living there, presumably because he had little time for recreation. "While in Tokyo I worked nonstop with no regard for my personal appearance, never drinking or gambling...