Talking Animal Imagery
Multiple stories in this collection include characters, real or fictional, who are talking, anthropomorphic animals. The most notable example is "super-frog saves tokyo," where a giant frog talks to Katagiri and does battle with Worm, a giant worm underneath the city who feeds on hatred. This Kafka-esque imagery is shocking in its unexpectedness, but the imagery in "honey pie" also features anthropomorphic creatures. Junpei tells Sala the story of Masakichi, a bear who makes money by selling honey. These talking animals are generally symbolic, and the imagery surrounding them is striking and intensely characteristic of Murakami.
Earthquake Imagery
All of these stories occur in the wake of the Kobe earthquake, a devastating natural disaster that hit the Japanese city of Kobe in 1995. All of the stories deal with or mention the earthquake in some way, and the accompanying imagery is sobering. These stories deal with the effects of living in the aftermath of such a tragedy, and it doesn't shy away from the issues brought up by such horrible disasters.
Death Imagery
Death is a major theme throughout these stories, and its presence is especially notable in "landscape with flatiron" and "thailand," where symbolic imagery is present in an attempt to characterize death. The bonfire in "landscape with flatiron" indirectly references death, which is understanding, embracing, and accepting, and it can be seen in different ways by different people. The direct symbolization of death, however, occurs in "thailand," where Satsuki is told by a spirit-reading woman that she has a white stone inside her, and only when she grabs a giant snake in her dreams will it be able to eat the stone. This snake represents death, and Satsuki must embrace the truth of death in order to lose the weight she's been carrying around.
Isolation Imagery
Several characters in these stories are isolated, and the accompanying imagery emphasizes this fact. Komura, in "ufo in kushiro," is emotionally isolated from the world; he no longer seems capable of connecting with people in any real way. On a more physical level, "landscape with flatiron" deals with a character named Miyake, a middle-aged reclusive painter living by himself by the sea. Other examples fill the other stories, but the imagery in those two is particularly notable.
