This project explores the journeys taken by female characters in Murakami's novels 1Q84, Sputnik Sweetheart, and South of the Border, West of the Sun. Each of the women discussed here have in common their disappearance. Aomame hides away from the world (and the Little People) in a safehouse, Sumire disappears into a parallel world, and Shimamoto disappears from Hajime's life. Documented here are the things they saw and the thoughts they had during their final travels as told through the narrative. The Google Tour Builders place their journeys in physical locations while the blog posts provide passages from the novels which express how the characters felt about their individual situations.

6:22 PM

Aomame's trip from the hotel where she killed the leader to her safehouse.

Google Tour Builder :

https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/tour/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgICAuYTnvAkM

"When it got dark she sat on a chair on the balcony and gazed out at the playground across the street. This was the most important part of her daily schedule, the focal point of her life. On sunny days, cloudy days, even when it rained, she kept close watch, without missing a day."

"As Aomame kept a close watch on the park, the moons kept a close watch over her."

"Most of the time, though, the playground was empty at night. Not even a cat ran across it. Just the mercury-vapor lamo's anonymous light illuminating the swings, the slide, the sandbox, the locked public toilet. When Aomame looked at this scene for a long time, she began to feel as if she had been abandoned on a deserted planet."

4:09 PM

"I'm writing this letter at an outdoor cafe on a side street in Rome, sipping espresso as thick as the devil's sweat, and I have this strange feeling that I'm not myself anymore. It's hard to put into words,but I guess it's like I was fast asleep, and someone came, disassembled me, and hurriedly put me back together again. That sort of feeling... My eyes tell me I'm the same old me, but something's different from usual. Not that I can clearly recall what 'usual' was. Ever since I stepped off the plane I can't shake this very real, deconstructive illusion."

"...please pray for my happiness and good fortune. I need your prayers."

Sumire's travels through Europe with Miu before she disappears from a small island in Greece.

Google Tour Builder :

https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/tour/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgICA2YG-ogoM

"One question remains, however. If this side, where Miu is, is not the real world - if this side is actually the other side - what about me, the person who shares the same temporal and spatial plane with her?
Who in the world am I?"

4:09 PM

Shimamoto's journey to deliver her baby's ashes to their final resting place before she disappears from Hajime's life.

Google Tour Builder :

https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/tour/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgICA2Ze6pwoM

"'Do you think it will turn to rain?' Shimamoto asked, tapping the tip of her boot on the ground.

I looked at the sky. 'I think it'll hold out for a while,' I said.

'No, that's not what I mean. What I mean is, will the child's ashes flow to the sea, mix with the seawater, evaporate, form into clouds, and fall as rain?'"

4:09 PM