Norwegian Wood

The next week, Nagasawa passes his examinations to enter the Foreign Ministry and offers to take Watanabe to dinner as a celebration with Hatsumi. Watanabe suggests that Nagasawa would rather celebrate with his girlfriend alone, but he insists that Watanabe’s presence would be welcome. Watanabe asks if Nagasawa plans to stay with Hatsumi when he begins his new job, but he replies that he has no intention of getting married, something Hatsumi is well aware of. He tells Watanabe that his priority is to work hard and be as successful as he can.

On Saturday, Watanabe and Nagasawa meet Hatsumi at a fancy French restaurant. Hatsumi offers to set Watanabe up with one of her classmates, but he insists he is too poor to date the rich women at Hatsumi’s exclusive college. Nagasawa informs her that Watanabe has a girlfriend, and Hatsumi wishes they could have gone on double dates. Nagasawa agrees and adds that he and Watanabe could have switched women. Hatsumi argues that the kind-hearted Watanabe would never do such a thing, but Nagasawa insists that they did just that out drinking one night. Hatsumi asks Watanabe if it’s true, and he admits that after having sex with a pair of women, Nagasawa knocked on Watanabe’s door and suggested they trade women. He did it even though it wasn’t “all that much fun” (207). He explains that, even though there is a woman he loves, the situation is “complicated,” and sometimes he needs to be with another woman to staunch his loneliness.

Drunk, Nagasawa rambles on about men’s sexual needs, and Hatsumi demands to know why she isn’t enough for him. Uncomfortable, Watanabe offers to leave, but they both tell him to stay. Dessert is tense, and Nagasawa tells Hatsumi they operate on different “systems.” She shouts at him and declines his offer to see her home. She asks Watanabe to escort her instead, and they get in a taxi together. In the cab, Watanabe looks at Hatsumi and wonders what it is about her that “could send a tremor through your heart” (211). Watanabe reflects that it took him years to understand that she called to mind a “childhood longing that had always remained […] unfulfilled” (211). The realization that Hatsumi was an incredibly “special” person filled him with sorrow because she killed herself four years after Nagasawa left Tokyo.

Hatsumi and Watanabe share some drinks at a bar, and then Hatsumi asks if Watanabe knows somewhere to play pool. Surprised that a woman like Hatsumi plays pool, he agrees. Hatsumi is an excellent player, and Watanabe struggles because of a cut on his hand, but they have fun. Watanabe realizes that he hasn’t played since the afternoon of Kizuki’s death. He mentions this to Hatsumi but reflexively tells her that Kizuki died in a car accident. After a few games, Watanabe’s hand begins to hurt, so Hatsumi invites him back to her apartment for a new bandage.

In her apartment, she changes his dressing while showing him pictures of her eligible classmates and asks him what she should do about Nagasawa. He answers that he doesn’t think she can be happy with Nagasawa and that she should find someone with “a more normal way of looking at things” (215). He tells her he wishes he had an older sister like her, beautiful and “chic.” Hatsumi is flattered. She tells Watanabe that she is “a stupid, old-fashioned girl” who wants to get married and raise a family (216), but she loves Nagasawa and hopes he will change his mind about her. Watanabe thanks her for the bandage and goes back to his dorm. He goes to bed dreading Sunday.

The next day, Watanabe writes a letter to Naoko. After some deliberation, he tells her about playing pool with Hatsumi and his thoughts about Kizuki. He didn’t remember Kizuki until after the first game, and then Watanabe felt guilty, as if he had abandoned his friend. Watanabe says he understands that time is passing and that his relationship with Kizuki is gone forever. He is trying to accept this and says that he believes Naoko is the only one who might understand.

Ten days after her father’s death, there is still no sign of Midori in class. Watanabe sees Nagasawa in the dining hall, and he apologizes for their awkward dinner with Hatsumi. On Friday, Watanabe finally gets a call from Midori. She asks him to meet her for a drink, and he agrees.

He meets her at a bar and is surprised that she has two large suitcases. She tells him she just returned from a trip, first south to Nara with her boyfriend, then north to Aomori alone. She tells Watanabe that she wanted to get away after the funeral and have lots of sex, but her period came as soon as they arrived. It was heavy, and her boyfriend was furious. She says the trip was terrible, so when she came home, she decided to go away again. She tells Watanabe that she thought of him the whole time she was gone, wishing he was there. He wonders why she thought of him instead of her boyfriend, and Midori warns him not to ask her; if she starts crying, she won’t ever stop.

She reminds Watanabe of his promise to take her to a porno film and suggests they find an S&M movie to watch. They go to a rundown theater, and Midori chatters through the film. She is the only woman in the theater, and the other patrons keep shooting her strange looks. Halfway through the second film, Midori starts to get bored, and she pulls Watanabe out of the theater. They go to another bar and drink more. After three or four drinks, they leave, and Midori says she wants to climb a tree. Watanabe tries to talk her out of it. He tells her she’s drunk and suggests she go home. She tells him she doesn’t want to be alone and asks Watanabe to take her to a love hotel. Watanabe says that he has to make his curfew and tells Midori she should call her boyfriend. She tells Watanabe that she wants to be with him, and finally, he agrees. With a sudden burst of energy, Midori suggests they go to a disco.

At the club, they drink more, and Midori’s mood lifts until she gets hungry. They go for pizza and then return to Midori’s apartment. Back home, she offers Watanabe a stick of incense to light at her father’s altar. She tells him that one night, she took off all of her clothes and stood in front of her father’s picture. Watanabe is shocked, and Midori admits that she was a little drunk at the time. She turns out the light, telling her father goodnight and wishing him lots of sex with her mother in heaven.

Midori and Watanabe take turns bathing and putting on pajamas. Watanabe promises Midori that he will hold her until she falls asleep. They talk as she dozes, and he tells her she is cute and he likes her very much. Once she is asleep, Watanabe gets up and takes a book from the shop downstairs. He reads until morning, then goes back to his dorm.

He continues writing to Naoko every week and receives short responses. She tells him about the changing seasons and, for his birthday, sends him a hand-knitted sweater from Reiko and herself.