Chapter Five, The Case of Kiguchi Summary

On the airplane, Kiguchi sits next to the guide, Enami. Kiguchi mentions that he fought in Burma during the war and Enami remarks that the fighting there was fierce. Kiguchi thinks that Enami cannot know anything about the horror and starvation the soldiers endured. He recalls his trials.

The rain pours down as Kiguchi and his friend Tsukada walk the Highway of Death, starving and malnourished. Fallen soldiers, dead and dying, line the route of retreat, covered in maggots. The starving soldiers, without food for days, gobble down mangos even though they are warned the fruit might be poisoned. Kiguchi falls ill and expects to be left to die in the jungle, but his friend Tsukada won't leave him. Tsukada brings him food he found on a dying soldier. Next, he brings meat...