Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

After Takako left the Morisaki Bookshop, she found a job at a small design firm. For a year and a half, her new job kept her away from Satoru, though Takako visited as much as she could. 

When Satoru calls her and announces that Momoko is back, Takako cannot believe it. Satoru tells Takako that he was closing up the shop when Momoko walked in and announced her return. Satoru welcomed her back, and she simply walked upstairs to stay in Takako’s old room.

Takako asks Satoru why Momoko will not stay with him at his house, and why Momoko is back. Satoru explains that he does not know why, and does not want to pry too much into Momoko’s plans. When Satoru asks Takako if she thinks Momoko will leave again, Takako feels protective of her uncle. Satoru asks Takako to find out from Momoko why she is back and what she plans to do next. Momoko is mysterious, not usually forthcoming with her plans. When she left five years prior, all she left was a two-sentence note: “I’m fine. Please don’t look for me” (76-77). Takako agrees to help Satoru, and is surprised when he tells her that Momoko likes her.

Momoko invites Takako inside to the shop. Takako notices that Momoko seems very happy, and constantly pinches Satoru’s cheeks, even when he asks her to stop. Momoko gushes over Takako as well, remembering her as a pleasant child when she was younger. Takako remembers her childhood and adolescence as a time filled with anxiety and uncertainty, and is shocked to find that Momoko remembers her differently.

As Momoko reminisces about family gatherings from years ago when she and Takako would meet, she also tells Takako of how she and Satoru met. Though Momoko will not reveal why she was in Paris, she explains that she and Satoru met in the French city while she was living there and Satoru was travelling. She tells Takako that she was unsure of Satoru at first, but came to love him. When they returned Japan, their relationship accelerated and they were soon married. Satoru then took over the bookshop.

While Momoko speaks, Takako notices that Satoru stays completely silent. She wonders if he is happy that she is back, and whether or not they can really work together as a match. Though she questions their relationship, Takako also sees some kinship between them and understands why they like being together, though she sees them more as old friends than a married couple. After Momoko finishes explaining her and Satoru’s past, she tells Takako that she wants to be good friends with her, just as Takako is with Satoru.

When Takako leaves the Morisaki Bookshop later that night, she stops into Saveur before going home. Though Tomo no longer works there, Takano does, and Takako is happy to see him. She also encounters Sabu and the owner talking about Satoru and Momoko. Sabu is protective of Satoru, and questions why Momoko is back. He is wary of her and does not want Satoru to engage with her. He even proposes having words with Momoko before the owner tells him to mind his own business.

Sabu leaves and Takako orders a coffee and sits down to read. When Takako looks up from her book, she notices a man sitting by the window. They lock eyes and she recognizes him, though it takes her a minute to place him as a customer at the bookshop. He recognizes her as well and invites her to sit with him. His name is Wada, and they talk about the bookshop and Satoru. Takako remembers him often bringing a girlfriend with him to the shop, but when she asks about her, Wada reveals that they recently broke up.

To change the subject, Takako asks about the book Wada has with him. Wada explains that he bought the book, Up the Hill, at the Morisaki Bookshop. Although he is uncertain if he enjoys the book, he does find it fascinating. They talk more about the bookshop, and Wada tells Takako that she seemed perfectly at home working there, always reading behind the counter. Takako tells Wada that it was the right time for her to be at the bookshop, and that the time she spent living there was essential to her growth. 

Takako feels that even though they just met, it’s as though she and Wada are long-time friends. They talk until Saveur is ready to close. They say goodbye, and Takako leaves, looking back to see Wada staring out the window.

Momoko asks Takako to take a trip, just the two of them, to a small inn in the mountains. Two weeks have passed since Momoko’s arrival, and Takako finds herself spending more and more time with her. Every time Takako comes over to the bookshop, Momoko makes her a meal in her rooms above the shop. The food is delicious, and though Takako remembers her promise to her uncle, she finds that Momoko will not answer any questions that may explain her return.

Momoko does reveal parts of her life to Takako, though, such as the fact that she was in Paris living with a man before she met Satoru. When Momoko found out that the man she loved had a wife and kids back in Japan, she left him, unwilling to cause others pain. One night, as they chat over food, Momoko reveals that she knows Satoru asked Takako to spend time with her and find answers. Takako is shocked, but Momoko remains evasive. Takako wonders what her aunt is hiding. Despite this uncertainty, Takako agrees to take the trip with Momoko.

Takako sees Wada twice more, and each time feels like they grow closer effortlessly. They chat at the coffee shop and one day even go on a walk together. Both times, they do not swap contact info, seemingly confident that they will see each other again. 

One day, when Takako asks the owner of Saveur about Wada, both he and Takano tease Takako that they’d be a good couple. She ignores them and pulls out the book Wada reads, Up the Hill. The novel follows a struggling author named Matsugorō Ida. He meets a beautiful woman, Ukiyō, and they fall in love. Ukiyō, though, is forced into an arranged marriage, and with no future, Matsugorō cannot stop it. He works tirelessly to finally become a successful novelist, only to discover that Ukiyō died in an epidemic. He spends the rest of his life depressed, drinking, and though he never forgets his love, he dies.

The night before her trip with Momoko, Takako speaks with Satoru on the phone. He wonders why Momoko wants Takako to join her and tells Takako that she does not have to go if she does not want to. Takako finds herself defending Momoko, even advocating for her when Satoru complains that she won’t tell him where she goes when she disappears during the day.

Later that night, Takako goes to Saveur and reads a new book. When Wada arrives and joins her, Takako is excited to tell him that she read Up the Hill but finds him in an unusual mood. When she talks about the love in the novel, Wada complains that waiting for the person you love does not work. He reveals that he told his ex-girlfriend that he would wait for her in Saveur, the site of their first date, in case she changes her mind. Now, however, Wada’s ex-girlfriend complains that his waiting is creepy. Takako talks to Wada about his relationship, the entire time feeling embarrassed for believing that they could be a couple. Wada explains that, despite the differences between himself and his ex-girlfriend, he was hopeful that they could work it out.

When Wada finally changes the subject, Takako excuses herself, saying she has an early start for her trip the next morning. As Takako walks away from the coffee shop, she feels depressed and realizes that in her rush to leave, she forgot her book on the table.