Yoyogi Hachiman is where Aomamé lives in company housing after graduation, a concrete marker of her transition into working life and of the different paths she and Tamaki take while preserving their close friendship.

Setting and Use

After Tamaki graduates and enters a master’s program to prepare for the bar examination, Aomamé takes a job with a company selling sports drinks and diet products and continues playing softball. Tamaki remains at her family home, while Aomamé lives in company housing in Yoyogi Hachiman. The location is identified through this practical detail of her new life rather than through a description of the neighborhood itself.

Connection to Aomamé and Tamaki

Their residences distinguish their circumstances, but do not end their companionship: as during their student years, the two meet every weekend for lunch and talk at length. Yoyogi Hachiman therefore helps situate a continuing routine across a change in life stage, before Tamaki’s marriage interrupts her studies and precipitates a serious quarrel between the friends.