Yoyogi is the setting of Tengo’s teaching career and the professional role that Komatsu later invokes when recruiting him into the risky plan involving Fukaéri. The preparatory school gives Tengo time to write, but its students also make him practiced at speaking to young people—an ability Komatsu treats as essential to winning Fukaéri’s confidence.

Setting and Tengo’s Work

Tengo teaches mathematics at a preparatory school in Yoyogi, having chosen that kind of school over a public high school in his home prefecture because its schedule gives him greater freedom. He lives alone in a small apartment in Kōenji and writes novels alongside his teaching. The arrangement lets him spend four days a week at home doing what he wants, while maintaining a stable occupation.

He has worked at the same school for seven years, and students regard him well. His teaching is precise and direct: he can answer questions on the spot, explain ideas clearly, project his voice, and use jokes to make students laugh. The contrast with his usual reserve is striking. In groups he tends to listen, and anxiety can leave him short of words; in front of a class, however, his mind clears and he speaks with ease.

A Professional Role Becomes a Plotting Resource

When Komatsu tells Tengo that Fukaéri wants to speak to him alone, he presents Yoyogi and the teaching job as qualifications for the encounter. Tengo is tall and strong, Komatsu argues, and accustomed to talking with precocious high-school girls. He urges him to be friendly and persuasive so that Fukaéri will trust him, while promising to wait for good news.

Tengo resists being treated as though the assignment were already settled. He reminds Komatsu that the plan is dangerous, that he has not agreed to take part, and that it is difficult to persuade a girl he has never met when he himself remains undecided. Komatsu answers that events are already in motion and suggests that Tengo’s decision is nearly made too. Yoyogi thus matters not only as a workplace but as the source of a skill Komatsu hopes to put to use in a high-stakes personal meeting.

The School’s Place in Tengo’s Life

The school offers more than a convenient timetable. Tengo is satisfied with his pay, which reflects student evaluations rather than seniority alone; strong evaluations can bring higher compensation, and other schools have tried to recruit him. He is also content with the work itself. Many students attend with the clear aim of passing entrance examinations, giving his precise explanations a practical purpose.

That professional competence sits beside an unresolved literary ambition. Tengo is unsure whether he has the talent or desire to become a full-time novelist, yet he cannot go a day without writing. Yoyogi’s flexible schedule allows both parts of his life to continue: teaching provides income and a recognized skill, while the time it leaves him sustains the writing he experiences as indispensable.