When the narrator is twelve years old, he thinks he knows everything about Japan. He thinks he's the only person who knows everything. But now, he realizes that he doesn't. He tells his friend, Natsume, that he'd rather be in the country than in the city, where he'll have to deal with his mother and sister. He's also worried about the fact that he has a daughter who's just turned thirteen. He says that he drank too much the night before, so he've decided to move to the city. He also says that the inn where they're staying is too far away from the city to go swimming in the river, so they have to go to the nearby town of Kouchan, where they can hang out. The narrator says he wants to live in the town, but he can't because it's too far out of his way. He wonders if there's a giant god there, and the narrator says that's what people say about the town. He decides to check out the town to see if there really is a god there.