In 1950s Japan, Doctor Suguro practises medicine in a backwater still recovering from the war. Quiet and withdrawn, he lives tortured by his conscience and a horrific wartime memory: participating in the vivisection of an American airman, an experiment which led to his agonising death. This spare, harrowing novel, based on real events, is a profound exploration of the pressures of conflict, the moral numbness of conformity, and the painful legacy of violence.