This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the novel, in which the protagonist, who is now in his mid-thirties, is working in a convenience store in Yokohama, Japan. He has just returned from a three-day trip to India, where he has been asked to deliver a message to the Prime Minister of India. The Prime Minister, however, has refused to deliver the message, and the protagonist is left with no choice but to accept the message.