Chapters 1-2, 'Son of Hanji' and 'The Feast' Summary

Jiro is a young boy living in Feudal Japan during a time of famine. His family is poor and so he apprentices himself to the local puppet theater. He makes friends with the other boys, particularly Kinshi, the son of the master puppeteer Yoshida. As the months pass, Jiro becomes suspicious of Yoshida's behavior, suspecting that he is the mysterious bandit Saburo. When Kinshi becomes determined to help the desperate groups of citizens who roam the city at night, Jiro risks his life to ask Saburo to help him, only to discover that the bandit is not the person he expected.

Jiro helps his father to make a new puppet for the puppet theater. The city is suffering from a famine, but thankfully they can still make money by...