Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s treatment of mental health topics including depression and anxiety.

Twenty-one-year-old Tomoka Fujiki receives a text from her high school friend, Saya, about her new boyfriend and his job. The friends have tried to keep in touch since Tomoka moved away from home to study in Tokyo. Their conversation makes Tomoka think about what jobs say about people’s characters. Tomoka works at a general merchandise store called Eden. The women in Tomoka’s womenswear department all must wear uniforms that project a welcoming image (9).

Tomoka goes to work at Eden one day, and her part-time coworker, Mrs. Numauchi, scolds her about taking too long on her break. Tomoka doesn’t like Mrs. Numauchi and thinks she takes the job too seriously. Tomoka returns to the floor after her break and helps a customer pick out a mulberry sweater. The woman is indecisive, annoying Tomoka. Tomoka doesn’t like her job, but it was the only offer she received after college. She accepted the position because she wanted to stay in Tokyo and didn’t want “to go back to the country” (12). Growing up, she always wanted to live in Tokyo and imagined a glamorous future in the city.