This was a well-written fairy tale about self-discovery and honest friendships. I can't say any of the philosophy made any impact on me, but the story is well told. (view spoiler)[A main character conveniently dies after achieving some personal growth, giving the whole story some pathos and making everybody Sad. It's just too cliched. (hide spoiler)] Everything is tied up neatly. Everyone acts like ponderous snobs to each other. I'm might be a snob by being dismissive of this book if somebody else sincerely loved it. It's snobs all the way down. 
 Though it is always amusing to see a token Asian man introduced as some mystical sensei and to read his long asides on Japanese culture. The long digressions on cinema I can understand, but you're romanticizing gyoza? Really? They're dumplings. You can get whole bags of them at any Asian grocery store or as restaurant side dishes. I'm all for finding beauty or truth of insight in the commonplace, but this is just baffling.