Kanazawa

Kanazawa matters as more than a stop on Kido’s annual New Year circuit: at his family home, the outward rituals of domestic normality sharpen his awareness that his marriage may be ending. The city’s quiet holiday setting holds his fear of what divorce could mean for Kaori, Sota, and both sides of the family.

Setting and Return

Kido, Kaori, and Sota arrive in Kanazawa on New Year’s Day after spending New Year’s Eve with Kaori’s family in Yokohama. The visits follow the same pattern each year. Both households appear to receive the family warmly, and Kido and Kaori converse naturally over dinner before retreating to their rooms and laying out their futons. They discuss practical plans for the next day, sustaining the appearance of an unremarkable Shogatsu visit.

An Ordinary Holiday Under Strain

The familiar routine no longer brings Kido the ease it once did. He has been unable to sleep in either Yokohama or Kanazawa, unsettled by having Kaori and Sota stretched out on either side of him. He has grown accustomed to one parent putting Sota to bed and then being alone until morning; sharing the room again makes the distance within the marriage physically present. The contrast between the family’s smooth public behavior and Kido’s private sleeplessness turns the visit into a measure of how much their relationship has changed.

The Stakes of Divorce

Lying awake in the dark at the family home, Kido thinks through the consequences of a possible divorce. He dreads explaining it to their parents and anticipates a custody dispute. He does not intend simply to surrender Sota, yet he knows he would feel guilty about taking the boy from Kaori. He also expects that Sota would choose his mother if asked, despite seeming to favor Kido in the circumstances as they stand. With Sota’s grandparents on both sides deeply attached to him, Kido imagines that any outcome would leave someone he loves feeling deprived.

Narrative Significance

Kanazawa’s role is defined by the tension between repetition and change: the family returns to the same homes and follows the same holiday customs, but Kido can no longer inhabit the routine without thinking about its possible end. The city becomes the setting for a private reckoning with family bonds that cannot be neatly divided, and with the fear that a decision about marriage will also reshape a child’s relations with parents and grandparents. Its New Year stillness does not resolve the crisis; it gives Kido room to recognize its human cost.