Junpei and his father

Junpei and his father are connected less by intimacy than by a single, unexplained pronouncement. The father’s theory that a man will meet exactly three women of real meaning becomes a private countdown for Junpei, shaping his relationships long after the two stop speaking.

Distance and the Father’s Pronouncement

The story recalls Junpei at sixteen, when he and his father share blood but are not close enough to speak openly. Philosophical advice from his father is rare, which gives the exchange unusual force: the father declares, with the certainty of an impersonal fact, that among all the women a man meets, only three will have real meaning for him. He warns Junpei that involvement with the wrong woman is a waste of time and tells him to remember the rule.

Junpei listens without replying. Later, he wonders whether his father has already met his three women, whether Junpei’s mother is one of them, and what happened with the other two. He cannot ask. The unanswered questions are part of the relationship: the father gives his son a theory about intimacy but not the closeness that might let them discuss its source or meaning.

A Theory That Organizes Junpei’s Love Life

After leaving home at eighteen to attend college in Tokyo, Junpei becomes involved with several women. One, he is certain, has real meaning for him, but before he can put his feelings into words she marries his best friend and later becomes a mother. Junpei removes her from the possibilities still open to him; if he accepts his father’s theory, only two significant women remain.

The rule makes each new relationship a test. Junpei asks himself whether a woman is one of the three, while fearing that he will use up one of his remaining chances too soon. His hesitation over expressing love at the right time grows into distrust of his own judgment. He worries that he can seize what is unimportant and let what matters most slip away.

In practice, the theory does not lead him toward decisive commitment. If a small trait or behavior begins to trouble him, he feels relief, and relationships settle into a pale, indecisive pattern. He stays with a woman while assessing the situation until the relationship dissolves. The breakups are quiet; he has developed a preference for convenient partners who seem unlikely to make separation difficult.

Estrangement and the Lasting Inheritance

Around the time he graduates from college, Junpei has a violent argument with his father and cuts off contact. The rupture ends their communication, but it does not free Junpei from the paternal theory. Its basis remains unexplained, yet it clings to his life as an obsession. He even considers, half-jokingly, whether turning to men might release him from the countdown, then recognizes that women remain the only objects of his sexual interest.

The relationship’s lasting consequence is therefore paradoxical: Junpei rejects his father personally while continuing to live under the terms of his father’s pronouncement. The theory offers a measure for recognizing love, but also encourages him to treat intimacy as a limited set of chances and to delay action until certainty arrives. His distance from his father leaves the rule without an answer—and leaves Junpei carrying it alone.