“If you want to know how poor somebody was growing up, ask them how many windows they had.”

Poverty is a recurring motif in Breasts and Eggs. Natsu’s impoverished childhood affects her perception of the world as an adult. She thinks practically about money.

“Once he got going, he’d find some reason to slap around me and my sister, too. Deep down, we were all afraid of him.”

Abusive fathers are a recurring plot point throughout Breasts and Eggs. Home is rarely a safe and happy place for the women in the novel. Kawakami highlights how patriarchal power structures, which automatically place men in charge, normalize abuse toward wives and daughters.

“We had no relatives to call for help, and zero chances of marrying into money. Less than zero.”

As single women in their 30s and 40s, Natsu and Makiko are marginalized by modern Japanese society. They can’t rely on anyone but themselves for survival.