“Since many of Murakami's stories start with everyday life and lead into the world of dark fantasy, I feel there are many links to the world views I express through fashion and painting.
“This book consists of two parallel stories. The odd-numbered chapters belong to Hard-Boiled Wonderland, where the protagonist is a human data processor and encryption specialist known as a Calcutec. He undergoes training using his own subconscious as an encryption key. His latest mission, from a mysterious scientist, involves research on 'sound removal' carried out in a laboratory hidden in Tokyo's sewer system. He learns he has only a day and a half left before his consciousness leaves this world to forever immerse in a world created within his subconscious.
“Even-numbered chapters belong to the story of a newcomer to the End of the World, a town surrounded by an impenetrable wall. The town is perfect but isolated, and newcomers are accepted under the condition that their 'shadow' is 'cut off', expected to survive winters in the 'shadow grounds' without shadows. Residents are not allowed to have shadows, resulting in them lacking emotions. The protagonist is assigned the job of 'dream-reading', visiting the library every night to learn how to read dreams