Scene 4 : the hillsides of Kyoto

"'Both of us have a lot of feelings we need to get out in the open. So if you want to take those feelings and smash somebody with them, smash me. Then we can understand each other better.'
'So if you understand me better, what then?'
'You don't get it, do you?' I said. 'It's not a question of 'what then.' Some people get a kick out of reading railroad timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out of matchsticks. So what's wrong if there happens to be one guy in the world who enjoys trying to understand you?'
'Kind of like a hobby?' she said, amused.
'Sure, I guess you could call it a hobby. Most normal people would call it friendship or love or something, but if you want to call it a hobby, that's O.K., too.'" (Murakami 140)

During Toru's first visit to Ami Hostel, he, Naoko, and Reiko take a walk outside the grounds of the sanatorium. They pass through an abandoned village and reach a small farmhouse which is a cafe. They sit on the porch and order drinks, enjoying listening to the radio and Reiko's guitar playing. Although it is against the rules of the sanatorium, Reiko allows Toru and Naoko to wander off by themselves.

Toru asks Naoko to tell him about herself and her feelings, stating that he wants to be able to understand her. Even though Toru claims that he loves Naoko, his actions throughout the novel prove otherwise. Whenever he and Naoko have actual conversations, he only takes away from it what he wants to while ignoring everything else about Naoko and her mental state. There are many instances where Naoko talks to him and he does not even care to listen, like during their walk from Yotsuya to Komagome. He is able to recall every detail about where they walked that day, yet he remembers nothing that Naoko said during the walk.