The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Places

Pictures of the places possibly appeared or mentioned in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

In the afternoons I would go to a park—the Shinjuku Imperial Gardens or Yoyogi Park—to sit on the grass and cry.　―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.8)

Shinjuku Gyoen provides a sanctuary in the busy Shinjuku area. It consists of three beautiful landscapes – English, French and Japanese traditional. On a frosty morning, early arrivals take delight in being the first to leave their footprints in the fresh snow

In the afternoons I would go to a park—the Shinjuku Imperial Gardens or Yoyogi Park—to sit on the grass and cry.　―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.8)

On weekends, Yoyogi Park attracts many picnickers, dog walkers, runners, practising musicians, rappers, apprentice actors, cosplayers, or anyone else who just wants to look up at the sky in the forest. However, there’s not much happening on a snowy day.

All payments to Mr. Honda were made by Kumiko’s father. We merely had to visit Mr. Honda’s home in Meguro once a month with a big bottle of sake, listen to what he had to tell us, and go home. Simple.　―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.4)

Meguro is a residential area located in the south-west of Tokyo. The last Christmas season, the Meguro river was illuminated with blue lights for the event named “Grotta Azzurra in Nakameguro” sponsored by a pasta manufacturer.

It was the perfect car for my purposes. I drove as far as the Tama River on the outskirts of the city, and there I found a massive stone wall of the kind I had in mind.　―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.8)

On the southern outskirts of Tokyo, Tama River is one of the southernmost rivers in Japan, an upstream destination in the fall for migrating adult salmon.

“I’m scared of culverts,” she said, hugging her knees. “You know what a culvert is, don’t you?” “Some kind of ditch, isn’t it?” I didn’t have a very precise definition of the word in mind. “Yeah, but it’s underground. An underground waterway. A drainage ditch with a lid on. A pitch-dark flow. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.9)

Since the 1970s, some of the rivers in Setagaya have been covered over and paved to create footpaths. The rivers, however, still flow through culverts, underground waterway.

For the next three hours, we sat at the subway entrance by the Wako Building, counting the bald-headed men who passed by. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.9)

You and I once went out on a job connected with it. Remember? We went to the Ginza and did a survey. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book three, Ch.10)

Wako department is located on the corner of Ginza 4-Chome intersection and sells luxury products. Since Ginza is regarded as an ultimate high-status location, many fashion brands have their flagship store there.

May Kasahara and I rode the subway to Shinjuku and from there took the Odakyu Line home. The afternoon rush hour was starting. This was my first ride on a crowded train in some time, but it hardly filled me with nostalgia. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.9)

Odakyu line connects busy Shinjuku and both Shonan coast and Hakone mountain resorts through suburban residential areas including Setagaya.

When he heard this, my uncle suggested that we move into a house he owned in Setagaya. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book one, Ch.10)

Setagaya is located in the south-west of Tokyo and has azure-winged magpie as its official bird. In the heart of the ward, a beloved trolley runs on the Setagaya Line.

“Shall we meet at one o’clock? In the same place we met before: the tearoom of the Shinagawa Pacific Hotel.” One o’clock in the tearoom of the Shinagawa Pacific Hotel, I said, and hung up. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book two, Ch.2)

The Shinagawa Pacific Hotel had ended its operation in 2010 and was rebuilt into a commercial complex, Shinagawa Goos. However, the tea room is a still good place to meet up with someone like Malta Kano.

May Kasahara tapped the ashes off her cigarette… she said in a clipped, businesslike way, “We were going pretty fast. It happened near Enoshima. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book two, Ch.15)

Enoshima is a small offshore island located at the end of Odakyu Line in the Shonan coast. For jellyfish fans, there is the Jellyfish Fantasy Hall in the Aquarium on the way from the station to the island.

Every day, I would take the train to Shinjuku at ten o’clock, after the rush hour, sit on the bench in the plaza, and stay there almost motionless until 4:00 p.m., staring at people’s faces. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book two, Ch.16)

The most possible bench on which Toru Okada had sat down maybe that in front of Shinjuku Center Building. The stone bench is not always an ideal place in the winter time though.ー 場所: Shinjuku Center Building

The return commute had Akasaka Mitsuke Station churning. In no mood for the bad air of the subway, I decided to go as far as I could on foot. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book three, Ch.8)

By the 19th century in Akasaka-mitsuke, there was an outskirts gate of an old castle. The possible hotel where Toru Okada saw the TV news at the lobby had been in just around the corner but demolished to be rebuilt.

I walked past the palace for foreign dignitaries as far as Yotsuya Station. Then I walked along Shinjuku Boulevard and went into a small place without too many people, to have a glass of draft beer. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book three, Ch.4)

The neo-baroque style building in the state guest house (palace for foreign dignitaries) was built in 1909 as a Crown Prince’s residence and is used for diplomatic purpose now.

We visited the Akasaka 2-chome address listed in the documents but found only a small plaque, “Akasaka Research,” on the door of one apartment in a small condominium building, and no one answered when we rang the bell. ―Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book three, Ch.7)

In addition to the luxury residences, hotels, theatres, embassies, restaurants and expensive office buildings, there are quite a number of unremarkable buildings in Akasaka area.