there is a "portal" to another world...
perhaps one where the lady Miss Saeki has wondered into (same place
where the 2 soldiers went into) they found a physical place where
they could escape to..
the opening of that portal, perhaps did the things to the children
which mentally crippled Mr Nakata... but that is
unimportant..
however, Miss Saeki has gone in there after the heartbreak of her
lover's murder... and she has re-emerged, not totally whole (she
has half a shadow, much like Nakata)
perhaps she was that woman in Kafka's theory, perhaps, it was an
Oedipal curse which binds Kafka to Miss Saeki and Nakata... but
ultimately, the quests of Nakata and Kafka will converge at Miss
Saeki... and when they do, the journey of Miss Saeki will come to
an end...
in there, so does Nakata's journey...
and at the end of Miss Saeki's and Nakata's journeys, Kafka's and
Hoshino's begin...
there is a vague beginning, and clearly no end.. it is perhaps,
just a slice of an extraordinary and surreal story...
there may not be a sense other than the parallel quests of Kafka
and Nakata, and the strange conclusion...
still, it was an enjoyable read 
