A Quest of The Imagination

In the short story “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo” by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, the protagonist is a middle-aged man working as a debt collector in Tokyo, Japan. His name is Katagiri and he lives a life where he is unnoticed by the people around him. This leads to an internal battle within himself; he questions his worth in society, followed by a proposition from a Frog about a journey to save Tokyo. Haruki Murakami’s personification of the frog and the worm in “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo” illustrates the Freudian concepts of the super-ego, ego, and the Id as Katagiri embarks on a journey of self-discovery to learn to come to terms with his place within a society; a Japanese society where people fit and work for the system and the idea of individuality is not celebrated.

For instance, Katagiri is a single older Japanese man, who has been looked down upon by others despite the various sacrifices he has made. Katagiri has no wife or kids and after the death of his parents, he became the parental figure for his sister and brother. In a conversation between Frog and Katagiri, Frog states “ They have shown you no respect and acted with the most callous disregard for your loving kindness. In my opinion, their behavior is unconscionable. I almost wish I could beat them to a pulp on your behalf ” (Murakami). This illustrates that Katagiri has not been given recognition for his actions towards his siblings. Despite being a creation of the imagination, when compared to Frog, Katagiri lacks the courage and self-esteem to confront his siblings, which justifies Frog being a personification of his super-ego— what he aspires to be.

According to Sigmund Freud, “The Dissection of the Psychical Personality” highlights that “The super-ego applies the strictest moral standard to the helpless ego which is at its mercy; in general it represents the claims of morality, and we realize all at once that our moral sense of guilt is the expression of the tension between the ego and the super-ego” (Freud 3). This shows the super-ego is coming to the aid of Katagiri— who represents the ego. Katagiri continuously views himself as a worthless man with no recognition. As stated before, the super-ego is what he aspires to be because Frog has hero-like qualities that would gain admiration, which he lacks. Katagiri believes that his place in society doesn’t allow him to be a hero, so he remains in the same position, while Frog is trying to help him realize he doesn’t need recognition to embrace his individuality. This reinforces the expression of the tension between the super-ego and the ego as Frog tries to raise Katagiri’s self-esteem, while Katagiri is hesitant on accepting that he can be like Frog. Additionally, this also reinforces Murakami’s view on society not celebrating individuality since Katagiri is withholding his potential— not going against society.

Furthermore, the worm in the story embodies the darkness surrounding Katagiri— he tries to dismiss it from his life. The worm lives under Tokyo and possesses eyes that have atrophied and its “brain has turned to jelly as he sleeps”(Murakami). Whenever the worm is angry, he produces earthquakes that cause destruction throughout the city, which shows the worm as a representation of Katagiri’s Id. According to Freud, the Id is the dark place in the mind that is inaccessible to Katagiri’s personality, proving the worm grows continuously as it feeds on the darkness of Katagiri’s mind. An example of that darkness would be Katagiri’s job; he has accepted the most dangerous assignments for the past 16 years — could’ve gotten him killed— that is avoided by his coworkers and neither of his superiors or colleagues has properly expressed appreciation (Murakami). This shows Katagiri’s hard work going unrecognized, leading to the suppression of his emotions. Katagiri continues to work for the system in place, helping society prosper as long as he does the work, while he lacks the autonomy to achieve perspiration as an individual.

Moreover, Murakami wrote “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo post the Kobe earthquake in 1995, which left Japan in ruins. According to “The Kobe Earthquake, Ten Years Later,” it states, “The earthquake disrupted the lives of residents and affected the economy in innumerable ways. It damaged 85 percent of the region’s schools, many hospitals, and other public facilities. Extensive damage to rail, road, and port facilities took up to seven months to repair” (Olshansky). This reinforces Murakami’s critique of society as everyone in the country was unified due to their struggle. There was no celebration for individuality because Japan was at a crucial time where society believed the country’s needs were far superior to individual needs. Japan needed to be restored and by working for the system, it proved patriotism. In Katagiri’s case, he is contributing to the development of the Japanese economy by working and also proving his loyalty to Japan. This explains why he decided to join Frog in helping save Tokyo from destruction by worm, even though he knew no one will see him as a hero.

According to Patricia Welch, when Katagiri puts the needs of Japan before his own, this reveals Katagiri being self-destructive. “Lonely and isolated, they must nevertheless battle to forge an authentic identity in a dystopic world” is Welch’s comment on the protagonists found Murakami’s storytelling world (Welch, 59). This ties to mental health since Katagiri is lonely— no relation with family— and has low self-esteem. When talking to Frog, he emphasizes that there is nothing special about him; he says, “ I’m going bald, I’m getting a potbelly” and “I have diabetic tendencies”, proving that he doesn’t take care of his body (Murakami). He could’ve possibly become bald from stress since he worked on dangerous assignments consecutively and had to be careful. Katagiri never got the chance to develop his authentic identity, hence why he is having a midlife crisis. The battle between Frog and Worm was all from imagination and turned out to be a dream in the end.

Work Cited
Olchansky, Robert, et al. “The Kobe Earthquake, Ten Years Later.” Web-a-Ebscohost-Com.ccny-proxy1.Libr.ccny.cuny.edu, 2005, web-a-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=36&sid=f8611928-2c5f-4986-9627-01dc6db71af6%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=18483701&db=a9h.
Welch, Patricia. “Haruki Murakami’s Storytelling World.” World Literature Today: A Literary Quarterly of the University of Oklahoma, vol. 79, no. 1, Jan. 2005, pp. 55–59. EBSCOhost, ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2005870039&site=ehost-live.
Murakami, Haruki, and Jay Rubin. “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo” GQ: Gentlemen’s Quarterly, vol. 72, no. 6, June 2002
Freud, Sigmund. “Excerpt from Lecture XXXI: The Dissection of the Psychical Personality.”

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