The story is set on an island where things mysteriously “disappear.” Do you see these disappearances as passive—perhaps symbolizing poverty, austerity, or the erosion of collective memory—or do you think they are orchestrated by an active force? If the latter, who or what might be behind them, and for what purpose

The disappearances are enforced by the Memory Police, a sinister authoritarian group operating with impunity. Yet the novel offers little detail about their origins or leadership. Who do you think the Memory Police are, and what do they represent in the context of the story?

Why do you think characters like R and the narrator’s mother are able to remember things even after they’ve disappeared? What do these characters symbolize within the narrative and why do you believe the Memory Police specifically target them?

The protagonist of The Memory Police is an author working on a novel about a typist whose voice is slowly vanishing while she’s trapped by her lover. In what ways are the protagonist and the typist connected? How might the typist’s story reflect or deepen our understanding of the protagonist’s own experience?

What role does the protagonist’s act of writing play in preserving memory or resisting erasure? Can storytelling be seen as a form of rebellion in the novel? How does the novel explore the relationship between memory and control and how is forgetting portrayed as a tool of oppression?

After moving into the hidden room, the narrator and R begin a romantic relationship, even though R has a wife and child. Given their already strong friendship and creative collaboration, the affair can feel unexpected or even unnecessary. What is your personal take on their relationship? How do you think it contributes to, or detracts from the novel’s larger themes and plot?

Why do you think the characters remain nameless, identified only by their roles or relationships (such as “mother,” “father,” or “the hatmaker”)? How does this absence of names influence our understanding of their identities and the world they inhabit?

Natural elements carry strong symbolic weight throughout the novel. What do you think the river, the snow, the birds, and the flowers represent within the context of the island?

Throughout the novel, elements of the natural world begin to vanish; calendars disappear and winter lingers indefinitely, while flora and fauna fade away. Though surreal in the story, these moments echo real-world concerns about environmental collapse. To what extent can The Memory Police be read as a work of climate fiction?

The Memory Police was first published in Japan in 1994 and translated into English in 2019. How do you think the novel may have been received by Japanese readers at the time of its original release, compared to its reception by worldwide audiences 25 years later? What themes or elements do you think allowed it to resonate across different cultures and eras?

The author deliberately avoids explaining the island’s laws and leaves many questions unanswered, culminating in an abstract and ambiguous ending. How did you interpret the conclusion of The Memory Police, and in what ways did Ogawa’s writing style shape your experience of the story?