In 1950s Japan, Doctor Suguro is carrying on a humdrum practice in a small town still recovering from the war. A quiet, withdrawn individual, he has a horrific secret in his past: during the war he participated in an experimental operation on a downed American airman, carrying out a vivisection which led to his agonising death.

As we move from the seemingly tranquil, civilised present back into the wartime past, we learn more about the people involved in the operation. There's sensitive Suguro, whose acquiescence at the time has left him with an agonised conscience; Toda, a worldly colleague who readily participated in order to advance his career; and Ueda, a nurse who had no power to resist the plans of her male colleagues - nor any pity for the enemy.

Based on real events, this spare, harrowing novel is a profound exploration of the pressures of conflict, the moral numbness of conformity, and the painful legacy of violence.