Summary

In pages 92 - 106, Marika remembers having sex with Yoshiro. She thinks about her own sexuality, and her changing body. The thought elicits a meditation on her culture's evolving notions of sexuality, which have blurred over time as no man rarely remains a man forever, and few women do not later become men. Even the children in her institution all seem to look like girls. With Marika's memory of a postcard she sent to Yoshiro on his 108th birthday, the narrative moves back to his consciousness. He remembers his 99th birthday, and thinks again how he has "been robbed of death" (93). He wishes his society would put more emphasis on celebrating children's birthdays rather than those of the elderly.

He thinks again of Mumei's constant health issues. Watching Mumei's pain compels him to consider his generation as an alternate species from that of Mumei's...