Beasts Head for Home

“Set in Manchuria in the aftermath of the Asian Pacific War. The central character is Kuki Kyūzō, whose settler parents relocated from Japan to the Manchurian puppet-state as the Japanese empire expanded. Kyūzō’s father, a factory technician, dies shortly after he is born. In the course of Japan’s defeat and the Soviet Union’s occupation of Manchuria, Kyūzō’s mother is seriously wounded, forcing him to remain behind with her rather than evacuate with the other Japanese citizens. Her subsequent death leaves Kyūzō alone in the abandoned Japanese settlement, and he is employed as a houseboy by Alexandrov, an officer in the Soviet army. Approximately two years after the end of hostilities, Kyūzō decides to return to Japan. Providing money, a train ticket, and official travel documents, Alexandrov bids Kyūzō farewell. On the train Kyūzō meets Kō, who appears to be a fellow Japanese, much to Kyūzō’s relief. The train is attacked, but Kyūzō and Kō manage to escape, fleeing by foot across the harsh Manchurian plains.”