After Dark

Tetsuya Takahashi is a college student. He is tall and thin, with long, tangled hair and a generally disheveled appearance; he also has an ear deformity, a scar from an old accident. He studies pre-law, but his passion for most of his college career has been jazz music. He plays the trombone in a band that practices all night in Tokyo’s entertainment district, close to the place where Mari chooses to stay out, which leads to their chance reunion. They share an interest in Western media, mentions of which often pop up in their conversations.

Takahashi is a peculiar young man. Despite his appearance, he is very meticulous, especially when it comes to food, which he takes very seriously. Takahashi had a turbulent childhood which still affects his outlook on life. His father was a criminal who was in prison for fraud when Takahashi’s mother died from a sudden breast cancer diagnosis. This culminated in Takahashi feeling largely estranged from his father and stepmother, unable to escape from the feeling of being “orphaned” at age 7. Takahashi is a strong mouthpiece for the theme of The Individual and the Collective; he has a dark fascination with the forces that underpin human society, and he is abandoning his musical career to study law in an attempt to understand how all people are connected.

Takahashi went to school with Eri Asai, though they hardly interacted until two years prior to After Dark. On a double date with his friend and Eri, Takahashi was introduced to Mari, who he took an interest in, despite her being overshadowed by Eri’s beauty. While Takahashi maintains an “intellectual curiosity” in Eri—who, he observes, didn’t seem to view him as a person—he develops a real, personal interest in Mari, and even asks her out on a date toward the end of the novel (27). Takahashi’s pensive, thoughtful attitude and penchant for personal yet intellectual conversation helps Mari learn to connect with other people. Takahashi is one of Mari’s strongest advocates: He openly disagrees with her self-deprecating comments, stating that he feels Mari has a stronger sense of self than Eri does, which is implied to be correct in the Eri-centric chapters. Takahashi shows a romantic, sentimental streak when he promises to write Mari a long letter while she is abroad. Though they have only really gotten to know each other over the course of this night, there is a real hope for their future relationship when Mari returns from China.

Eri Asai is Mari’s sister and the focus of one of After Dark’s subplots, which embodies the theme of Voyeurism and the Narrative Camera. She is asleep for most of the novel; when she awakens for a time, it is in a dreamlike realm within the television screen. Eri is beautiful, a fact which has defined her identity since childhood. The Asais treated Eri and Mari differently growing up. Eri was groomed to be the “Snow White” of the family, meaning she was expected to profit off of her looks. Consequently, Eri made her living off of minor modeling jobs and television appearances. The chapters focused on her emphasize her loss of personality and her objectification for the masses, illustrating the theme of The Individual and the Collective.

For most of her life, Eri has put up a barrier between herself and others. Takahashi describes it as a spongy wall that absorbs whatever someone else is saying to her. This makes Eri seem self-centered, but in truth, she simply does not know how to connect with other people. For her whole life, her value has been tied to her beauty, not her individuality; thus, she has little sense of self. A deep dissatisfaction with her life culminates in self-destructive behavior: According to both Takahashi and Mari, Eri has an addiction to prescription drugs.

Both Takahashi and Korogi, a woman Mari meets when helping Guo, suggest to Mari that Eri may be suffering from some kind of violence or on the run from someone. This idea is never officially confirmed, but it is supported by the presence of the Man with No Face, who watches over Eri in her unnaturally deep sleep. The man’s resemblance to Shirakawa, the violent salaryman who assaulted Guo, hints at his malicious intent. The fact that the man does not ever interact with Eri in any way indicates that he could also represent an anonymous spectator, the sort of person who objectified Eri when she was awake. This would mean that Eri’s retreat from the world was due to the stress of being treated as a spectacle.

Eri manages to escape from the realm inside the television around the same time that Mari realizes how much Eri means to her, implying that this human connection is enough to bring Eri back. Though she does not wake up at the end of the novel, there are signs that her consciousness is returning—a happy, if ambiguous, ending for her and Mari. 

Kaoru is a large woman with short blond hair. She is “built like a barn, maybe two or three inches shy of six feet” (42), her skin “has a tough, weathered look,” and her “features are not exactly symmetrical” but “there is something reassuring about them that seems to come from an innate fondness for people” (40). Kaoru has a rough yet protective personality. She was once a popular female wrestler whose reckless behavior resulted in a back injury that forced her into early retirement; now, she manages the Alphaville, a love hotel in Tokyo’s entertainment district (not far from where Takahashi practices with his band at night).

Kaoru, who solidly inhabits the “dark” world, acts as a guide for Mari through nighttime Tokyo. Mari trusts her instinctually, translating to the feeling of safety and comfort she has at the Alphaville. The trust Mari has for Kaoru also impacts her relationship with Takahashi: Kaoru vouches for Takahashi’s character, making him, in turn, more trustworthy to Mari. Kaoru’s protective nature also extends to Guo. Although Kaoru addresses the situation in a businesslike, triage manner, she later actively searches for Guo’s assailant, identifies Shirakawa’s image on the Alphaville security camera, and passes his photo along to the Chinese gangster who picked Guo up from the hotel. Though the man threatened her, Kaoru persists in her support of Guo, telling him that she wants to know when the man finds Shirakawa—and that she doesn’t need to know Shirakawa’s fate. Kaoru’s willingness to stand up to criminals shows her innate bravery and care.

Shirakawa, who is only known by his surname, is an enigmatic salaryman and an antagonist in After Dark. Shirakawa is described as utterly normal and unremarkable. He wears a grey trench coat and business attire, making him indistinguishable from other businessmen in the area. However, beneath his innocuous surface lies violent tendencies. A regular at the Alphaville, Shirakawa hires Guo and beats her mercilessly when her period starts before they can have sex. The narrator mentions that this is a compulsion for Shirakawa, implying he has done such things before.

Shirakawa leads a double life, split between daytime Tokyo with his wife and family, and nighttime Tokyo, working late hours and cheating on his wife. Shirakawa is meticulous about keeping in shape, taking breaks during his long overnight shifts at Veritech to work out while listening to classical music.  

The theme of Synchronicity occurs often around Shirakawa. In the dream realm, Eri finds the “VERITECH” pencil that Shirakawa toys with at his desk, but it is never confirmed whether or not they have an actual connection. On a visit to 7-Eleven, Takahashi looks at the exact brand of milk Shirakawa’s wife asks Shirakawa to buy; Takahashi also happens upon Guo’s cell phone after Shirakawa leaves it in the dairy aisle of the same 7-Eleven, and when he answers it, he hears the threat meant for Shirakawa. Shirakawa passes by the Chinese gangster on the motorcycle, who is out hunting for him—but the two do not notice each other. Finally, Shirakawa is shown watching a documentary; later, Mari and Korogi are shown watching the same one.

Shirakawa is an unsympathetic character, though it is possible that he feels subconscious conflict or remorse. His hand aches late into the night, the pain laced with the memories of what he did to Guo; he also struggles to fall asleep, indicating that he is haunted in some way. There is no resolution to his storyline; Shirakawa remains unaware that Guo’s caretakers are searching for him, and he gives no indication that he is going to stop acting on his violent impulses.