Due to his job, Mr. Kamimoto is forced to relocate from Tokyo to a small town. His wife and daughter decide not to move with him and provide no help or support for him while he moves into his new apartment. Mr. Kamimoto feels unloved and betrayed when he sees his wife on television waiting at the airport to see the celebrity du jour from Korea arrive in Tokyo. Over the course of the next few weeks his wife keeps popping up on TV in the throngs of fans cheering for the star.
Soon Kamimoto meets a hairstylist named Suzuka at a small restaurant who seems to dislike the Korean celeb as much as he does and he falls for her instantly. Kamimoto fantasizes about becoming a father to her son, and being a good husband to her, unlike her deceased husband who drank heavily and fought with her. Soon Kamimoto finds himself looking for any excuse to get his hair cut, dyed, or permed by the beautiful Suzuka.
While not named specifically in the story, based on his popularity in Japan at the time of its publication, the Korean celebrity is likely Bae Young Jun.
Oidashibeya (追い出し部屋) literally means "banishment room," and in Japanese corporate culture it is a way of making work unpleasant for the worker in the hopes that they will quit. Employees are typically placed in a room, often windowless, where they have nothing to do. In many cases their business cards are taken away, and they are forced to do menial, mind-numbing tasks, or given nothing to do at all. Being excluded from the mainstream is particularly painful for those who have dedicated themselves to the company for many years, especially in the context of Japanese culture where ostracism from the group (村八分/murahachibu) is a traditional and strong form of punishment.
The idea of the oidashibeya is that stripped of their status, ties with colleagues, and interesting work, the employees who are placed there will eventually quit out of shame and sheer boredom. Indeed, many do. And since such a resignation is “voluntary,” the company is not subject to the usual legal responsibilities that it would have in the case of a layoff. It isn't stated outright that Kamimoto is being punished by his company, but it is certainly involuntary.
Jejudo (제주도) or Jeju Island is the largest island in South Korea, located in Jeju Province. The island lies in the Korea Strait, below the Korean Peninsula, south of the South Jeolla Province. Jeju is the only self-governing province in South Korea, meaning that the province is run by local inhabitants instead of politicians from the mainland.
