What is the setting of The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe?

The story takes place mainly in a small village in Japan, close to the sea. It can be reached by bus after several hours, and is quite remote from any other villages or forms of civilization. The geography of the cliffs, ocean, and sand dunes form a kind of oval shape, where the villagers can control the passage of people and round up anyone who tries to escape, with their truck. The wind off the ocean makes the air difficult to breathe above the sand holes, and there seem to be few organisms that can grow or thrive in the environment. This barrenness represents the isolation he feels in the city and feels between himself and other people.