I was in San Francisco last Tuesday and found a copy at a bookstore. I'm currently around page 400 (of the trade paperback edition).
This is concerning two paragraphs on page 329.
Spoiler:
The text in question is:
Quote:
The first day, I spent two full hours sitting on the low brick wall that ran along the edge of the raised flower bed outside Shinjuku Station, watching the faces of the people who passed by. But the sheer numbers of people were too great, and they walked too quickly. I couldn't manage a good look at any one person's face. To make matters worse, some homeless guy came over to me after I had been there for a while and started haranguing me about something. A policeman came by several times, glaring at me. So I gave up on the busy area outside the station and decided to look for a place better suited to thee leisurely study of passersby.
I took the passageway under the tracks to the west side of the station, and after I had spent some time walking around that neighborhood, I found a small, tiled plaza outside a glass high-rise...
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This isn't a comment of any particular depth but it is amazing how a small touch of familiarity can really bind you more to a book. I'm by no means a familiar of Japan but I have watched the mass of people and crazy people at that location outside of Shinjuku Station. I know exactly what "passageway under the tracks" he is talking about and have walked that path myself (though late at night, giving it somewhat more edge since it was lined with construction walls and makeshift homes for the homeless).
I'm enjoying it anyway, but with just these two paragraphs I felt the story swisting itself tighter within me.