The stories in '' After the Quake '' repeat motifs , themes , and elements common in much of Murakami 's earlier short stories and novels , but also present some notable stylistic changes . All six stories are told in the third person , as opposed to Murakami 's much more familiar first person narrative established in his previous work . Additionally , only one of the stories contains clear supernatural elements , which are present in the majority of Murakami 's stories . All of the stories are set in February 1995 , the month between the Kobe earthquake and the Tokyo gas attacks . Translator Jay Rubin says of the collection , " The central characters in '' After the Quake '' live far from the physical devastation , which they witness only on TV or in the papers , but for each of them the massive destruction unleashed by the earth itself becomes a turning point in their lives . They are forced to confront an emptiness they have borne inside them for years . " Komura , an early-thirties salesman living in Tokyo , comes home from work five days after the quake to find that his wife of five years has left him . She leaves a note saying that living with him is like living with a " chunk of air " and that other women would be lucky to be with him down the road . About a week later , he takes a week-long leave of absence . Before he leaves work that day , his friend Sasaki asks him if he would like to take an all-expenses-paid trip to Kushiro to deliver a small package to Sasaki 's sister Keiko ; he says yes
quake
Great Hanshin earthquake
After the Quake