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This is the story of a boy named Hajime, growing up in Japan, and trying to find meaning in his life. The book starts out with Hajime in grade school, and is a school outcast because he is an only child. In the 1950s, when he was growing up, only children were extremely rare in Japan and were frowned upon. People assumed Hajime was spoiled and arrogant, which was not the case. Hajime became friends with his neighbor, Shimamoto, who also happened to be an only child. The spent all of their time together, and spent many afternoons at Shimamoto’s house, listening to her father’s records. A favorite was Nat King Cole. Probably one of the reasons they were such good friends was because they were two of a kind in that culture, being only children. When Hajime was twelve, his family moved to a different city. He thought of Shimamoto very oft