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Hanna Ngo

Professor Bryant

ENG 112 WBC6

09 Feb. 2021

Haruki Murakami’s Super-Frog Saves Tokyo Literary Analysis

Not everyone will walk along the hero’s path for doing something many people would be

proud of. And not everyone will receive as much praise as they want. That is unless an animal

notices. Haruki Murakami’s “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” tells a story of a giant frog asking an

ordinary man, who has done nothing grand, to help accompany the frog in a fight against a giant

worm, who could cause an earthquake, to save Tokyo. “What you see in your eyes is not

necessarily real.” (Murakami). The Japanese novelist’s use of theme, motifs, and symbolism in

this short story shows that behind all the difficult challenges a person faces.

In this short story, Murakami's first use to conduct the message is the theme that shows

that doing the most leads to receiving the least. As the ordinary man, Katagiri is in his apartment,

a giant frog comes inside while urging to come along to defeat a giant worm who is living in the

underground. Katagiri questions why he must come, along with as Frog says, “I have always had

the profoundest respect for you, Mr. Katagiri” (Murakami). After Katagiri’s parents died, he

stepped in to take care of his two younger siblings, having them get into college and marriage.

He even has done the hardest and risky tasks in his job. Over 16 years, Frog noticed that much of

what Katagiri has done for people, yet signs of appreciation are uncertain. Another theme shown

is that morality can be its own award. In the story, Frog understands that Katagiri had gone

through a lot and only asked Katagiri that “he will not do any real fighting, only stand behind

Frog and offer him verbal and spiritual support during the fight” (Lai) and come along with him
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as the fight “is a matter of responsibility and honor” (Murakami) though Katagiri was not sure

about coming along. Eventually, Katagiri got shot and was in the hospital as Frog came and told

him that he fought Worm with help of his support. Frog appreciates Katagiri for everything he

has done and accomplish saving thousands of people in Tokyo before slipping into a coma and

explodes everywhere in the hospital room.

The second thing Murakami uses to conduct the message is the motif. The motif mentioned the

most was about the underground. The place where it is below the Shinjuku branch of the Tokyo

Security Trust Bank, and as a giant worm live there causing the earthquakes. Frog goes on to

mention how the underground is a dark and treacherous place and how he and Katagiri must go

into the underground with a plan. As mentioned, Katagiri has dealt with many challenges,

especially in the Kabukicho neighborhood as “old-time gangsters, Korean mobsters, Chinese

Mafia, guns and drugs, money flowing beneath the surface from one murky to another”

(Murakami). This describes what Katagiri is used to going through but was never scared by these

people. Having a worm causing the earthquakes and groups of bad people draws a balance

between the two. The short story compares the Kabukicho neighborhood and Worm as to what

makes Tokyo much worse.

Lastly, the third thing Murakami uses to conduct the message is the symbolism. Worm

during the fight with Frog “coiled himself” around Frog and drenched him with slime before

Worm could split into smaller pieces and symbolizes that evil is inside you after Frog exploded

as it led him to be “devoured by worms” (Lai). The earthquake, which Worm causes, also shows

a symbolism of a destruction in real life. This “functions as a kind of exorcism of guilt as is plays

out Murakami’s impossible desire to help saved Kobe from disaster” (Boulter). As mentioned in
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the short story, Worm has already caused an earthquake the last time in Kobe, which woke up

Katagiri. Murakami’s influence comes from the Kobe’s earthquake in 1995.

Super-Frog Saves Tokyo experiences the many difficult challenges a person faces. With

the literary devices, thesis, motifs, and symbolisms, Haurki Murakami conducts the messages

that will help readers understand the purpose of the story. As Katagiri has gone through a lot,

knowing that people are not grateful for him, Frog has given him an appreciation for everything

he has done. And although Katagiri’s life will continue as unnoticed, he finally received the

recognition that he thought would never happen.

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Works Cited

Boulter, Jonathan. “Writing Guilt: Haruki Murakami and the Archives of National

Mourning.” English Studies in Canada, vol. 32, no. 1, 2006, pp. 125-145. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy043.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-

journals/writing-guilt-haruki-murakami-archives-national/docview/205820322/se-2?

accountid=8245.

Lai, Amy Ty. “Memory, Hybridity, and Creative Alliance in Haruki Murakami's Fiction.”

Mosaic, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 40, no. 1, Mar. 2007, pp. 163–179. Gale

Literature Criticism, link-gale-

com.proxy043.nclive.org/apps/doc/AVYSOC095895415/LCO?

u=coa_main&sid=LCO&xid=4d6fb81f.

Murakami, Jay Rubin and Haruki, and Photography by Furi Furi. “Super-Frog Saves

Tokyo by Haruki Murakami - GQ June 2002.” GQ, www.gq.com/story/haruki-murakami-

super-frog-saves-tokyo-full-story.