Chapters 1-5 Summary

Chapter 1

The Matsugae household is abuzz with preparations for the 1912 New Year's ceremonies at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, where 18-year-old Kiyoaki Matsugae is to serve as a royal page and lift the empress' train as she enters the banquet. The women of the Matsugae clan are awash in perfume, white face makeup, hair styling and dressing. His father, the Marquis of Matsugae, revels at the attention his son garners because of his almost too perfect handsomeness, but his satisfaction turns quickly to uneasiness when he compares Kiyoaki to his two brothers who sacrificed their lives for the empire in the Russo-Japanese War. Their manliness is captured in an old photo of 1904 memorial services for the war dead that adorns the Matsugae residence.

Chapter 2

Kiyoaki's secret obsessions begin to isolate him from his schoolmates, except for his pal Honda who exhibits...