Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

It is two years after the conclusion of the Second World War. Traveling by train, Major Aldred Leith, a soldier for the Allies, leaves Tokyo heading to Ita Jima, an island in the Inland Sea of Japan. On the train, Aldred ponders a loveless relationship with his father, Oliver Leith, while viewing a book bearing the elder Leith's picture. On the island, he is met by Brian Talbot, a young enlisted man with whom Aldred will spend time touring Japan.

Staying a night on Ita Jima, Aldred stops to visit to a Professor named Gardiner. The professor is of German descent and had been living in Japan at the beginning of the war. Being given the choice of protection or prison by the Axis forces, Professor Gardiner chose the latter. Gardiner had spent more than three years in prison and contracted...