The dominant setting is an autumn evening at present-day Tokyo, Japan, in the Kamakura district. The story is setted in Japan probably because is the birthplace of the author Kazuo Ishiguro.
The fact that the story takes place in Japan represents a change in the son 's life, as he had been living in California for a few years and is now returning home. Although Kamakura district is now a rather small city, it used to be one of the capital cities of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate. This historical detail might be important as it explains the narrator’s observation that his father is "proud of the pure samurai blood that ran in the family". In "A Family Supper" the narrator’s parents represent the Japanese tradition but also shape the conflict of the story. The more immediate past of the story, however, is World War II, which the narrator immediately mentions in the context of the poisonous fish that killed his mother: Fugu, which has poisonous sex glands, "was extremely popular in Japan after the war... it was all the rage to perform the hazardous gutting operation in one’s own kitchen, then to invite neighbors and friends round for the feast."
The father’s house offers several details that contribute to a sense of place. For example, father and son discuss the suicide of