The Narrow Road to the Deep North

In the winter of 1946, Nakamura stands under an archway in Tokyo, avoiding the rain. He now lives in poverty, which has broken his shabu habit. War has destroyed the neighborhood he is now in. Dogs and hungry children roam the streets looking for food. Prostitution has become rampant, and Nakamura also indulges himself when he can, although he is ashamed to use women (called pan pan girls) who also sleep with American soldiers.

He has been demobilized for two and a half months. He finds a newspaper and reads an article about warrants that have been issued for ex-POW camp staff who are wanted for war crimes. The paper mentions him by name as a “possible Class B war criminal” (275). He is determined to avoid the dishonor of capture. He lives by scrounging timber and selling it to coal burners, and he believes he will be able to continue hiding in the slums: “The honourable thing, Nakamura thought, would be to do as others had done and kill himself” (276).

Above, he hears shouting. He comes out from the arch and looks through a hole in the wall, into a room. Inside is a pan pan girl and a young boy of perhaps 17 years.