Based on the novel, is architecture necessarily an evil or coercive form of design? What counterexamples can you give to contest the novel’s general theses on architecture as a manipulative art form?

Explore the different motivations for secrecy among characters like Mr. Matsue and Akemi Nishiharu. What does the novel ultimately argue about the consequences of well-intentioned secrets versus those born of malice?

Discuss how Uketsu uses verisimilitude to integrate contemporary sociocultural anxieties into the novel’s plot.

How does the novel’s construction of Yaeko’s unnamed daughter challenge a simple understanding of villainy?

Discuss the novel’s moments of pathos, as expressed by the characters who come to terms with the truth about the spaces they’re investigating. What is Uketsu ultimately saying about moral expectations and the way people fulfill them in the present day?

Compare Mr. Kasahara and Mitsuko Hikura through their respective journeys toward atonement. What larger insight do their character arcs communicate about guilt and absolution?

Discuss the commodification of Yaeko’s physical trauma by comparing it to other forms of dehumanizing commodification. How else can the human body be used to sell an ideal?

Analyze how the novel uses unreliable or incomplete narration to explore the nature of truth and memory, especially when a single, authoritative solution is later provided by Kurihara.