Toru Watanabe is the narrator and protagonist of Norwegian Wood. The novel is written from the 37-year-old Watanabe’s point of view, looking back on his days as a student in Tokyo. It charts his development from an “unworldly” teenager to a middle-aged man still affected by his past but working to accept it. At 17, Watanabe loses his best friend, Kizuki, to suicide and never fully recovers. He leaves his home in Kobe to go to university in far-away Tokyo, trying to outrun his painful past. He makes few friends at school and has no aspirations. He chooses to study drama but remarks that he “could have picked anything” (16); theater holds no special interest. In fact, few things interest the young Watanabe. He doesn’t care where he lives, he isn’t concerned when his roommate takes down his poster, and he goes out to sleep with strangers even though he admits to not enjoying it much. 

Throughout the novel, Watanabe often behaves as a passive observer of his own life, taking what comes but making no effort to shape or participate in his life. In a world filled with ambiguity and uncertainty, he struggles to find his place and purpose.