The narrator is on his way home from a business trip when he calls on the concierge at the hotel where he works. The concierge tells him that the hotel is being torn down to make way for a new hotel, and that the old building will be turned into a museum. The narrator tells the concierge to get his passport stamped so that he can go to Japan. The man tells the narrator that he is getting a lot done, and the narrator wonders why the man is not picking up on his work. He tells the man that he will get sold off and spend his whole life toiling away in a foreign country. The woman he has just met is a furniture designer, and she says that she is pleased to meet him. She says that her husband looks just like the man she just met. She asks the man to recommend a jeweler, and he says that they are each giving their fare well and that no one would buy their clothes any other way. She wonders if this will save Amamizukan, or if they will be able to stay in Japan forever