Time and death. Two inseparable themes in life, and this novel weaves them together like a water-tight basket. This novel explores the idea of death in several different ways, most obviously and notably within Nao’s own narratives.  Though funny and youthful, she connects most of her life events with the inevitability of her own death, or suicide as it would be in her case. Her narrative relies centrally on the fact that she is going to die. Revealed as the purpose of her writing the journal which now resides in the hands of Ruth, the quote above is Nao’s explanation for the journal.

Suicide is particularly emphasized within this novel.  Nao’s father attempts suicide via Chuo Rapid Express, a  famous suicide spot.  Nao’s father’s Uncle, also known within the novel as Haruki #1, was a Kamikaze pilot in World War II.  Nao, who also struggles with her own feelings on suicide, notes “Haruki #1 was a kamikaze pilot, which is kind of weird when you think of it because before he became a suicide bomber he was a student of philosophy at Tokyo University, and my dad, Haruki #2, really likes philosophy and keeps trying to kill himself, so I guess you could say that suicide and philosophy run in the family…” (P.68).

In Nao’s future, a woman named Ruth is reading her journal, trying to understand her life.  It is understood that the history of the novel and this history of our world coincide, so we as readers are aware that a large tsunami and earthquake hit Japan some time after the writing of Nao’s journal.  This, in and of itself, presents the theme of death more ambiguously than the previously mentioned examples.  While Ruth reads Nao’s journal, we as readers feel as though she is alive, at least for the time being. Though when we are presented with Ruth’s narrative, there is an ethereal understanding that Nao and her family may have perished in the wake of the tragedies that Japan suffered.

To me, these were the most important life and death themes, at least to the current place in the novel we are at. If you think I missed anything important, please post in the comments so that I can expand on the ideas.